Netflix announced on Friday that the Queen Bey’s spectacular performance during its inaugural NFL Christmas Gameday event is now a standalone special.
The performance, a stunning blend of music, fashion, and history, featured a star-studded lineup and a jaw-dropping 12-minute set, marking the first live performance of songs from her groundbreaking Cowboy Carter album. The album, which recently became the most nominated album by a female artist, continues to make waves with 11 Grammy nominations.
Beyoncé delivered powerful performances of multiple singles from Cowboy Carter, joined by collaborators like Post Malone, Shaboozey, Reyna Roberts, Tanner Adell, Brittney Spencer, and Tiera Kennedy. Fans were also thrilled to see Blue Ivy Carter, Beyoncé’s daughter, taking the stage with her mom.
The special also included appearances from rodeo legends, such as Mexican Cowgirl Melanie Rivera, bull-riding icon Myrtis Dightman Jr. (known as the “Jackie Robinson of Rodeo”), Miss Rodeo Texas Princess 2004 Nikki Woodward, and Ja’Dayia Kursh, the first Black Rodeo Queen of Arkansas.
Beyoncé wrapped up her show-stopping performance with a heartfelt “Merry Christmas, God bless y’all,” as she was “literally lifted to the rafters,” according to Netflix.
The musical event was a major win for the streaming platform. Nielsen reported that the Ravens-Texans game, which featured the highly anticipated Beyoncé Bowl halftime show, peaked at 27 million viewers.
This wasn’t Beyoncé’s first time dominating the NFL stage. She headlined Super Bowl XLVII on February 3, 2013, in New Orleans, joined by fellow Destiny’s Child members Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams. That performance became the second most-watched Super Bowl halftime show in history at the time, as noted by Netflix.
Three years later, she joined Coldplay and Bruno Mars for Super Bowl 50 in Santa Clara, California, delivering an iconic performance that helped the halftime show reach a massive 115.5 million viewers, making it one of the most-watched in history.
Netflix celebrates its highest-ever NFL streaming ratings, with viewership peaking during Beyoncé’s halftime performance.
Netflix’s NFL debut on Christmas Day was a success in terms of streaming, with the Ravens-Texans game peaking at over 27 million viewers during Beyoncé’s halftime show. However, overall viewership was similar to last year’s Christmas games, which aired on traditional TV. The late Ravens-Texans game averaged 24.3 million viewers, and the early Chiefs-Steelers game averaged 24.1 million, making them the most-streamed NFL games in history, according to Nielsen.
Despite the success on Netflix, last year’s Christmas games on broadcast TV outperformed this year’s streaming numbers. The Raiders vs. Chiefs on CBS had 29.2 million viewers, the Eagles vs. Giants on Fox had 29 million, and the 49ers vs. Ravens on ESPN averaged 27.1 million viewers.
This year’s games were part of a three-year, $150 million deal between the NFL and Netflix, with plans to stream through 2026. While Netflix celebrated the record-breaking streaming day, the blowout scores—Ravens 31-2 and Chiefs 29-10—may have impacted ratings.
Last year, the NFL experimented with streaming its playoff game on Peacock, which had strong ratings despite early concerns. However, that record was soon eclipsed by Netflix’s recent streaming of the Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul fight, which became the most-streamed global sporting event with 108 million viewers, including 38 million concurrent streams in the U.S.
Beyoncé transformed the NFL Christmas Halftime Show into a Cowboy Carter celebration, featuring a surprise cameo from Post Malone.
Beyoncé delivered the ultimate Cowboy Carter gift during the NFL Christmas Halftime Show at the Texans-Ravens game in Houston, her hometown. This marked the first live performance of songs from her 2024 album Cowboy Carter.
Beyoncé kicked off her iconic performance riding a horse and singing “16 Carriages” in a pre-taped segment. After dismounting, she covered The Beatles’ “Blackbird,” joined by country singers Tanner Adell, Brittney Spencer, Tiera Kennedy, and Reyna Roberts.
Post Malone made a surprise appearance for their collaboration “Levii’s Jeans,” following a duet with country artist Shaboozey. Backed by Texas Southern University’s Ocean of Soul Marching Band, Beyoncé also performed “Ya Ya” and was joined by her daughter Blue Ivy, who danced during “Texas Hold ‘Em.”
Beyoncé paid tribute to the Texans Cheerleaders and rodeo icons like bull-riding legend Myrtis Dightman Jr. and Ja’Dayia Kursh, Arkansas’ first Black Rodeo Queen.
As the performance ended, Beyoncé lifted high above the field, wished everyone, “Merry Christmas, God bless y’all.”
This wasn’t Beyoncé’s first major NFL performance—she headlined Super Bowl 2013 and joined Coldplay and Bruno Mars for Super Bowl 50.
Queen Bey teased her highly anticipated performance with a playful video on Tuesday, where she stops a rolling football with her sky-high heels while finger-picking a banjo to her hit song “Texas Hold ‘Em.” The video humorously appeared to buffer at one point, with a red spinning circle on Beyoncé’s nose, poking fun at Netflix’s past streaming glitches, notably during the Mike Tyson-Jake Paul fight. After the “glitch,” Beyoncé giggles and winks at the camera.
A Netflix representative told CNN that they had optimized their systems to improve streaming quality and handle the large viewership expected for the Christmas Day NFL games, including both the Chiefs-Steelers and Texans-Ravens matchups.
In addition to Beyoncé’s performance, Mariah Carey, the Queen of Christmas, made a memorable appearance during the Christmas Day NFL games with a pre-recorded performance of her iconic hit “All I Want For Christmas is You.” The performance, celebrating the song’s 30th anniversary, featured Carey performing on a rooftop in Los Angeles, surrounded by dancers and children in Christmas-themed costumes amid a faux snowfall.