Netflix's New NFL Era Means Fresh Opportunities for Colts to Make a Statement on Football's Biggest Stage

Let me tell you something about football and television and the way this game has changed over the years. You know, back when I was a kid, you got three games on Sunday and that was it. You were lucky if your team was on. You watched what CBS or NBC gave you, and you liked it, and you didn't complain because what else were you going to do? Now here we are in this streaming age, and the NFL is doing things that would have seemed absolutely crazy just fifteen, twenty years ago. They have got games on Amazon Prime. They have got games on ESPN Plus. They have got games on Peacock. And now the NFL and Netflix are getting together to bring five games to the streaming world, and you know what that means for Indianapolis Colts fans? It means opportunity. It means the world is watching in different ways now, and that's something this franchise and this fan base needs to understand real deeply.

When the NFL announced this Netflix package, the first thing everybody talked about was the Rams hosting the Packers on Thanksgiving Eve. That is a marquee matchup, no question about it. Two franchises with real history, real tradition, Aaron Rodgers on one side, and the Rams trying to prove something in the NFC West. But while everybody was focusing on that game and talking about all the Netflix subscribers who are going to be tuning in for the first time, I started thinking about the Indianapolis Colts and where they fit into this new landscape. And let me tell you, this is exactly the kind of moment that matters for a team that is trying to rebuild, trying to establish an identity, trying to make sure that when people think about professional football in 2024 and beyond, they think about Indianapolis as a place where important games happen.

The Colts have been through some real tough stretches here recently. We have not made the playoffs the last two years. We have gone through quarterback situations that would make anybody's head spin. Andrew Luck retired at the peak of his powers. We have had Carson Wentz come and go. We have had Matt Ryan come and go. And now we are looking at Anthony Richardson as our franchise quarterback, a young man with all kinds of talent and potential, but still finding his way in this league. These are the kinds of situations where a team needs visibility. A team needs moments. A team needs to play on big stages in front of massive audiences because that is how you build momentum, how you build a fan base, how you make people believe in what you are doing.

Now, I have not seen the entire Netflix package schedule yet, and I do not know if the Colts are going to be featured in one of those five games or not. But I will tell you this: if we get the opportunity to be part of this Netflix initiative, that is something we ought to embrace with both arms. Think about what that means. Think about all those people across the country who might be Netflix subscribers, who might be curious about football, who might be looking for something new to watch on a Thursday night or whenever the NFL decides to put these games on. Some of those people are going to be seeing the Colts for the first time. Some of those people might become Colts fans. Some of those people might be teenagers or young adults who have never really gotten into football but might fall in love with it when they see Anthony Richardson throwing the football around with incredible athleticism, or when they see our defense making plays.

This is not just about television ratings, you understand. This is about culture. This is about how the modern world consumes sports. When I was growing up, you had to be dedicated to follow your team. You had to sit down at a specific time on a specific day and watch the game on your television. If you missed it, you missed it. You might catch highlights on the news if you were lucky. Now everybody has got phones in their pockets that are basically computers. Everybody is on social media. Everybody is streaming things. The NFL understands that if they want to reach younger audiences, if they want to keep the sport vital and relevant and exciting, they have got to go where those audiences are. And Netflix is a massive platform with hundreds of millions of subscribers around the world.

The Colts organization has been thinking about this stuff too, I would imagine. You cannot be an NFL franchise in 2024 and not be aware of how important it is to have your team visible on as many platforms as possible. The traditional Sunday afternoon games are great, and the Monday night games are tradition, but if you are not getting on these new streaming platforms, you are leaving money on the table. You are leaving potential fans on the table. You are not maximizing your exposure in a way that matters in the modern era.

When you look at the Colts' situation heading into this season, visibility and momentum matter almost as much as anything. We have got a young quarterback. We have got some good pieces on offense and defense, but we are still in the early stages of building something. We need games that people watch. We need moments that stand out. We need people in Las Vegas and Los Angeles and New York and everywhere else to know that the Indianapolis Colts are a team with talent, a team with direction, a team that is going somewhere. That is hard to do when you are competing for attention with the Cowboys and the Patriots and the Packers and all these teams with massive national followings and long traditions of excellence.

Here is what I think about all this Netflix stuff, and I say this with all the passion in my heart. The NFL is smart to do this. Netflix is smart to do this. And the Colts need to be ready for when their moment comes, because it will come. Maybe not this year with the Netflix package, but eventually the schedule is going to put this team in front of a massive national audience, and when it does, we need to be ready to perform. We need Anthony Richardson to show what he can do. We need our defense to be tight and sharp. We need our coaching staff to have us prepared and motivated. Because every single game that gets shown nationally, every single game that goes out to millions of viewers, that is a chance to change the narrative about this franchise.

You know, I think about the Colts' history, and it is actually pretty remarkable when you really sit with it. We had John Unitas. We had Peyton Manning. We have had great football played here in Indianapolis. We have had Super Bowl victories. We have had playoff runs. But right now, in this moment, we are in a transition period. The whole world is not watching us the way they used to. But that is okay, because it creates opportunity. It creates a chance for us to surprise people. It creates a chance for us to be a story that people did not expect.

This Netflix package is just the beginning of how sports and entertainment are going to merge and evolve in the coming years. The Colts organization needs to be thinking about that, preparing for that, getting ready to take advantage of it when the opportunity comes. That is what this means for fans: it means that the way you watch football is going to change, and you need to stay engaged with how your team is adapting to those changes. It means that games matter more than ever because so many more people might be watching them. It means that this is an exciting time to be a Colts fan because the world is becoming more connected, and our team has a real chance to make an impression on a global audience. That is something to care about deeply.