Report: Fox and ESPN are reluctant to loan talent to Netflix for Christmas games

As Netflix inches toward potentially acquiring a full package of games, some of the streamer’s eventual competitors are reluctant to help the company produce quality content on Christmas.

According to FrontOfficeSports.com, ESPN and Fox are reluctant to loan talent to Netflix for the 2025 Christmas doubleheader.

Per the report, ESPN talent will not appear on the Cowboys-Commanders and Lions-Vikings games on December 25. Fox talent is not expected to participate.

Last year, Fox said no to a request to lend Kevin Burkhardt and Tom Brady to Netflix for Christmas. Eventually, the network allowed Greg Olsen to work one of the two games. ESPN allowed Laura Rutledge and Mina Kimes to work the Christmas games.

CBS produces the Netflix games, making CBS far more likely to allow its one-air talent to work the games. NBC’s Devin McCourty was involved in last year’s broadcast, too.

It’s unfortunate for the folks who would like to take on the extra work. Since the Christmas games are happening on days when the NFL isn’t otherwise playing, it’s not distracting them from their primary jobs.

And so it seems petty, frankly, for the networks to deny their employees the chance to spread their wings. It also becomes a bargaining point for future employment contracts, with talent seeking express permission as part of their deals to participate in one-off productions with other networks.