Netflix kicked off the 2026 NFL season with an average 18.5 million viewers in the US tuning in for the San Francisco 49ers vs. Los Angeles Rams from Melbourne, Australia, according to Nielsen Big Data + Panel, with viewership peaking at 21.3 million viewers in the US between 9:30pm-9:45pm EST.

The game ranks among the top three most-streamed Thursday primetime NFL games.

The game averaged 4.0 million viewers among P18–34, the highest non-Christmas streaming delivery for an NFL regular-season game. Netflix now holds the top four highest-rated regular-season streamed NFL games among A18–34, including Christmas.

Globally, the historic matchup averaged 21.7 million viewers, with fans from over 200 countries and territories tuning in to the first-ever NFL regular season game played in Australia.

49ers vs. Rams garnered over 340M social impressions & 14.5M engagements across Netflix + NFL social channels. 

Netflix kicked off its NFL slate in Week 1 with the NFL Gameday in Melbourne, marking the start of a season-long NFL presence that continues with the first-ever Thanksgiving Eve NFL game, two Christmas Day games, a Week 18 matchup and NFL Honors during Super Bowl week.