Netflix has gotten off to a bit of a slow start on sports coverage. He was an in-game highlight last year with Emmitt Smith yet to be drafted to the NFL. It was MLB’s opening night as comedian Bert Krescher chatted with the audience about baseball before the New York Yankees and San Francisco Giants came to bat in March.
There was a lot of Netflix-ization of the sport. It wasn’t good.
But Netflix has learned a thing or two going forward, with Thursday night’s Los Angeles Rams vs. San Francisco 49ers vs. Melbourne, the first of five NFL games on the service’s expanded schedule this season.
If you create a human in a lab to show that the first lessons are received by Netflix, this will result in Pro Football Hall of Famer Luke Kuechly.
How Luke Kuechly’s humble stars paved the way to the Hall of Fame
Joseph the man
Kuechly’s DNA is made up of X&O chromosomes.
In Kuechly’s debut as Netflix’s No. 1 game analyst, he was all about football, first, second and third. Coupled with 29-year-old Noah Eagles’ already established big-game pitch, Kuechly put his game in the spotlight Thursday.
Sports – especially the king of all media, the NFL – sell themselves. It doesn’t require any Netflix special sauce. Just make sure the stream is working and provide a football game. Down the front!
Kuechly had great detail in his analysis. His experience as a radio game analyst for the Carolina Panthers prepared him to step in and out at the right times. He was a bit dry but informative. (We’ll take that any day of the week – and when a Thursday night game is played on Friday morning in Australia, nobody knows what day it is.) Nobody wants the most distracting pundits.
As the 49ers beat the Rams 27-7, Eagle worked as a solid nose tackle on Kuechly’s playing days, taking care of blockers to keep the linebacker on clean lines. Eagle gave Kuechly plenty of room to teach football.
For decades, commentators have talked about running backs straining their shoulders, but Kuechly once added that it allows the ball carrier to move left or right more easily. It was a quick, abstract score to help the viewer better understand the game.
In another example, Kuechly explained how coaches teach high tackles in the 5 to prevent an opponent from falling into the end zone. Simple, good stuff.
Kuechly needs to explain some football lingo a bit more. If you have “PBU”, add “Pass Break” because everyone watching grew up playing Pop Warner. It’s an easy fix. Fans want to dive in, so just telling viewers the terms with a one-line explanation goes a long way.
NBC handles behind-the-scenes production for Netflix, but the streamer’s top sports executive, Gabe Spitzer, and his team decide the direction.
It was a cleaner approach, with an easy-to-read score error on the screen and a pregame show telecast, hosted by Elle Duncan with analysts Michael Irvin, Clay Matthews and Nick Foles about the game.
Joining Eagle and Kuechly were two sideline reporters, Tom Pelissero and MJ Acosta-Ruiz. The two provided solid information, but did not overdo it.
Aside from some hooded kangaroo jackets that NFL commissioner Roger Goodell tried on in the pregame and Brock Purdy, Fred Warner and Nick Bosa (who looked less than thrilled) put on in the postgame, Netflix stuck to a straight script.
Viewers don’t have a choice as to who will be playing the game, which is why, at least, fans want to watch the game without distractions.
On Thursday, Kuechly and Netflix shrugged their shoulders and revealed the exact form of the deal. It was the stream’s best work so far.