National Football League

Netflix not interested in sports

Published Oct. 24, 2013 1:00 a.m. ET

foxsports

As networks fight over billion-dollar rights to televise sports, there's one player in the market that's not interested. Netflix will leave football to FOX and stick to the "Breaking Bads" and "Mad Men," thank you very much.

That's the message from CCO Ted Sarandos, who squashed a Wall Street Journal report that Netflix might be interested in cutting a deal to offer NFL games. WSJ had reported that the NFL was considering adding more Thursday night games and selling the package to "a non-traditional media partner."

“We’re still not interested in sports,” he told Deadline Hollywood, calling matches “primarily a linear experience.”

The NFL also rejected the story.

“Wondering where the idea of Thursday night doubleheaders came from? So are we. We have not considered this,” Brian McCarthy, the league’s VP Communications, tweeted last week.