Fans erupted in outrage over Netflix’s stream of the Los Angeles Rams-San Francisco 49ers season opener from Australia on Thursday, complaining of audio and video problems they described as nearly unwatchable.
Streaming issue reports peaked right before kickoff at 190, compared to a baseline of 11, according to Down Detector. It was the first regular-season NFL game ever played in Australia and Netflix’s first live NFL broadcast outside its Christmas Day window.
The game at Melbourne Cricket Ground drew an electric in-person crowd, but viewers said almost none of that carried through the stream. An X user wrote that the piped-in noise resembled “the tornado scene from The Wizard of Oz.”
San Francisco jumped ahead on an Eddy Pineiro field goal before Rams running back Kyren Williams punched in a five-yard touchdown to make it 7-3. Quarterback Brock Purdy then hit Demarcus Robinson on a 39-yard strike, and by halftime he had completed 17 of 25 passes for 141 yards while Rams counterpart Matthew Stafford managed 65 yards and an interception.
The broadcast was another matter. “@netflix fix your broadcast. The cameras look terrible. Somehow the audio is even worse. Am I listening through a garbage can?” one fan wrote. Others said the visuals looked artificial and objected to seeing commercials on a subscription many expected to be ad-free.
Not every reaction was negative. Some fans reported no issues, and the platform’s new scorebug graphics and the booth pairing of Noah Eagle and Luke Kuechly drew praise.
The game was one of five the NFL handed Netflix this season, part of a streaming push now facing political and legal pressure. President Donald Trump has criticized paywalling games, saying fans “don’t make enough money to go and pay this.” The Justice Department is reviewing the league’s distribution practices under the Sports Broadcasting Act, and the NFL has defended its setup as “the most fan-friendly model there is.”
Fans blasted Netflix’s NFL Christmas broadcasts as “wretched” in December, with buffering and picture complaints that carried straight into Thursday’s game.