Get Ready for the NFL’s First Thanksgiving Eve Game on Netflix: Packers vs Rams Kick-off Times Worldwide and Your Tech Checklist

For about a century, American football’s holiday plan has been simple: eat too much on Thursday, watch football, fall asleep on the sofa. This year the NFL and Netflix have decided Thursday is not enough. On Wednesday 25 November 2026 the Green Bay Packers visit the Los Angeles Rams at SoFi Stadium in the league’s first ever Thanksgiving Eve game, and it streams live on Netflix. Kick-off is 8:00 pm Eastern / 5:00 pm Pacific, with a pregame show from 6:00 pm Eastern / 3:00 pm Pacific, according to Netflix’s live events Help Centre page.

Which is lovely if you live in Los Angeles. If you live in London it is 1:00 am on Thursday. In Dubai it is breakfast, in Mumbai it is the school run and in Sydney it is lunch. Same game, five very different evenings. So here is the kick-off time where you are, what it costs, and the boring tech checks that decide whether you watch a touchdown or a spinning red circle.

What is confirmed, and what is not

A small print moment to start us off. Netflix’s own Tudum schedule page, last updated 11 September, still lists the kick-off as “TBA”, while Netflix’s Help Centre and NFL.com both say 8 pm Eastern. One company, two web pages, two answers. I am going with the Help Centre, because it has clearly been updated more recently (it already lists October events as past) and it matches the NFL. And my favourite number: Netflix’s Help Centre says Netflix itself is available in “over 190 countries and regions”, while the NFL games stream in “over 200 countries”. Either American football has discovered ten new countries, or two marketing departments have been counting differently. I’ll leave that one with them.

If you are new to this: Thanksgiving is the US holiday on the fourth Thursday of November, which this year is 26 November. NFL.com says this game opens Week 12, which also includes the usual Thanksgiving Day tripleheader and a Black Friday game. Those games are with other broadcasters; Netflix’s 2026 schedule lists only Packers at Rams in November. NFL.com billed it at the schedule release as Jordan Love’s Packers against Matthew Stafford’s Rams, with head coaches and old friends Matt LaFleur and Sean McVay on opposite touchlines. I will leave the predictions to people who get paid to be wrong about football.

Kick-off times worldwide

The clocks make this trickier than it looks. The UK and EU go back on Sunday 25 October, the US waits until Sunday 1 November, so by game week everyone is on winter time: 8 pm Eastern Standard Time is 01:00 UTC on Thursday. I checked every row below with Python’s time zone database rather than trusting my own head at this hour.

I was born in Karbala, so I read the Iraq row first: a 4 am kick-off, which makes it less Thanksgiving Eve and more Thanksgiving dawn. For the full story of that odd week when Europe has changed its clocks and America has not, my clocks going back live streaming checklist has the details.

What it costs

Nothing extra. Netflix’s Help Centre says live events are included on every plan, and the NFL’s own help pages for last season’s Christmas games said the same. So the only cost is the plan itself. These are the monthly prices Netflix’s Help Centre shows for each country when I checked on 18 October 2026. Netflix adds that taxes may be charged on top depending on where you live, and prices differ if you get Netflix through a package such as a broadband or TV bundle.

UK readers who want the background on how we got to £7.99 for the cheapest plan can read my Netflix UK price rise breakdown. Three things in the small print matter more than the price:

• Ad-free does not mean advert-free on game night. Netflix says live events “may contain commercial breaks across all our plans”. The breaks only disappear from the replay on ad-free plans after the event ends. So for a live game, the cheapest plan with ads gets you the same live broadcast, breaks included, as Premium, which costs roughly three times as much in most of the countries in this table. Netflix has not said, in anything I read, whether this game is in 4K, so do not upgrade on a hunch.
• Streams at once. Standard with ads and Standard allow two devices at a time, Premium four. In India and the UAE, Basic allows one, and India’s Mobile plan is one phone or tablet only, which is a brave way to watch 22 large men on a pitch. If the kids are watching something else in two rooms, the game is the stream that gets refused.
• Some devices cannot run the ads plan. Netflix says a small percentage of TVs and boxes cannot play an ad-supported plan because the app or system cannot be updated. On the TV, open Netflix, go to Get Help > Plan Compatibility. No such option means the device cannot do ads at all. Netflix also says that on an ad-supported plan you cannot cast or mirror from a phone to the TV. Check this before you downgrade, not at 12.55 am.

If you have cancelled Netflix, there is no medal for rejoining in October. Billing is monthly, so rejoining a week or two before the game gives you time to test your setup and saves you the fees in between.

Countries with a twist

“Over 200 countries” is a big claim, and the small print always lives at the edges. Here is what I could actually verify, and what I could not.

• Vietnam: when you set Netflix’s live events Help Centre page to Vietnam, it says live events are not available there. Last season, the NFL’s own help page for the Christmas games also said Vietnam was excluded.
• China, Crimea, North Korea, Russia and Syria: Netflix’s Help Centre says Netflix itself is not available in these places, so neither is this game on Netflix.
• Australia: Seven announced on 31 July 2026 that it holds exclusive free to air NFL rights in Australia for the 2026 season, including weekly games, the playoffs and the Super Bowl. For the Melbourne game in September, Sporting News listed Netflix, Seven and 7plus, and ESPN through Kayo as ways to watch in Australia. Whether Seven or ESPN will also carry Packers at Rams on Thursday lunchtime is unconfirmed in anything I read. Check Seven’s guide and Netflix nearer the day.
• Canada, Spain and NFL Game Pass: for last season’s Christmas games, the NFL’s help page said they were also on NFL Game Pass International, on CTV, TSN and RDS in Canada and on Movistar in Spain. DAZN says Game Pass carries every NFL game outside the US and China. Nobody I read has confirmed the same arrangement for this game yet, so treat it as likely, not promised.
• Green Bay and Los Angeles: Netflix says the games also go out on local over the air TV in the team markets. I have not seen the stations named yet.

Wherever you are, the reliable check is the game’s own Netflix title page, “NFL Netflix Gameday: Thanksgiving Eve, Packers vs. Rams”. Search for it in the app and press Remind Me. Netflix says that adds it to My List and notifies you when it starts. If it still does not appear in your country’s app a week before the game, contact Netflix support rather than guessing. And please do not go VPN country hopping to fix that. It is not needed for a game Netflix shows across most of the world, and a VPN is a fine way to upset Netflix’s location and household checks on the one night you need them to behave. UK readers, TV Licensing even says a VPN does not get you out of needing a licence.

Will your device play it live?

Netflix says you can watch live on “most newer devices”: smart TVs, streaming players, Android phones and tablets, iPhone and iPad, Mac and Windows computers, and game consoles. The catch is in the rest of the page:

• Phones and tablets: Android needs Android 9 or later. iPhone and iPad need iOS or iPadOS 26 or later, plus the latest Netflix app. If your iPad has stopped getting updates, it has stopped being a live sports device, whatever it says on the box it came in.
• Computers: a supported web browser, or the Netflix app on Windows 10 or later.
• Not supported for live: Chromecast 1st to 3rd generation and Chromecast Ultra (Chromecast with Google TV is fine), casting a Chrome browser tab to a TV, and “certain apps and features” that cast or mirror a phone to a TV, with Google Cast given as the example.
• Older TVs and boxes: Netflix says a small number of devices cannot do live because their Netflix app cannot be updated. On those, it says, most live events turn up as normal titles a few days later. Do not count on that for the NFL: last season, the NFL said its Netflix games expired 24 hours after the game outside the US and 3 hours after inside it.

The fix for the casting habit is simple: open the Netflix app on the TV or streaming box itself. A box with Chromecast built in is fine as long as Netflix runs on the box, not on your phone. I went through all of this in depth for UK fight fans in my Fury vs Joshua Netflix tech checklist, and the same rules apply to footballs of every shape.

Broadband, Wi-Fi and the dress rehearsal

Netflix recommends a stable 3 Mbps for HD, 5 Mbps for Full HD and 15 Mbps for 4K. Plenty of home connections clear that easily. The weak link is usually the last few metres: a stick behind the TV on crowded Wi-Fi, two walls from the router, while someone upstairs uploads 400 holiday photos.

• Test at the TV, not at the router. In the Netflix app on the TV, go to Get Help > Check your Network. On a phone sitting next to the TV, use speedtest.husham.com on the same Wi-Fi network.
• Cable beats air. If your box has an Ethernet port, use it for the night. If not, 5GHz Wi-Fi close to the router beats 2.4GHz through the kitchen.
• Turn the VPN off on the TV. It adds distance and can upset Netflix’s location checks. Keep it for public Wi-Fi.
• Rehearse on a real live event. WWE Raw is live on Netflix every Monday at 8 pm Eastern, which is 1 am on Tuesday in the UK once the US clocks change, exactly the same clock time as this kick-off. Netflix notes WWE is not available in every country, so check it shows up. Netflix also lists Beat Luke Littler live on Friday 30 October at 7 pm GMT, and I wrote a checklist for that one too. Open it on the exact TV, box and connection you will use for the game and watch ten minutes. You are checking that it plays, that the picture holds steady and that the sound is in sync.

Will Netflix itself hold up? Nobody can promise that. Netflix says its Christmas Day broadcast of Lions against Vikings last year was the most streamed NFL regular season game in US history, so it has done big games before. If it wobbles on the night, Netflix’s own advice is to switch your device off for 15 seconds and then restart your home network. Factory resetting the TV at 1.15 am is not on the list, and for good reason.

The 1 am problem, solved properly

Netflix says that while a live event is on you can pause, rewind, play from the beginning or jump back to live at any point. Netflix also says live events can be downloaded or watched later. That gives night owls and early birds three honest options:

• Stay up: start at 1 am UK with the pregame already over. Pause for the kettle without missing a play.
• Start late, catch up: begin from the start a little later and fast forward to catch up with live. Netflix has not said whether the commercial breaks can be skipped while the event is still live, so assume they cannot and give yourself a head start.
• Sleep and watch on Thursday: Netflix says some events stay available “for a limited time” after the livestream. For last season’s NFL games, the NFL said that limit was 24 hours outside the US. Nobody has published this game’s window yet, so plan to watch on Thursday, not at the weekend. Netflix also warns that the replay may not appear straight away if your profile language differs from the event’s original language, because extra subtitles and audio take a few days.

The real danger with the Thursday plan is spoilers, not technology. Mute the NFL app, sports alerts and the group chat with that one friend who cannot help himself, before you go to bed.

UK readers, the TV Licence bit: TV Licensing’s guidance says you need to be covered by a TV Licence to watch live on Netflix, and it names “WWE or NFL events on Netflix” as examples. It also says watching on a delay still counts. On-demand Netflix does not need a licence. The licence costs £180 a year if you pay in one go, according to TV Licensing’s site. If you are licence-free by choice, the honest route is to wait for the replay after the game has ended.

Watching at a friend’s house

Netflix’s household rules can block your account on a TV that is not part of your Netflix Household. Netflix’s own fix is the I’m Traveling option on a TV (Watch Temporarily on a phone or laptop). It sends a link to the account owner’s email or phone, and the four digit code it gives you expires after 15 minutes. Netflix says there is a limit on how many codes a TV can request, and too many wrong codes block the device for 24 hours.

• Sort it out earlier in the evening, not at kick-off, and make sure the account owner is awake. At 1 am UK, that is a big ask.
• The cleanest answer: the host signs in to their own Netflix.
• If you share with someone outside your home every week, the official route is an extra member slot on Standard or Premium. In the UK that is £5.99 a month with adverts or £6.99 without; in the US $7.99 or $9.99.

The dated checklist

• This week (from Sunday 18 October): check your plan and how many streams it allows. Search for the game in the Netflix app and press Remind Me. Update the Netflix app and the TV or box firmware. On iPhone or iPad, check you are on iOS or iPadOS 26. If you plan to drop to an ads plan, run Plan Compatibility on the TV first. UK: confirm your TV Licence.
• Sunday 25 October: UK and EU clocks go back. For one week WWE Raw starts at midnight UK, not 1 am.
• Friday 30 October: Beat Luke Littler, 7 pm GMT. First live test on your game night setup.
• Sunday 1 November: US clocks go back. From now on, 8 pm Eastern is 1 am in the UK.
• Weekend of Saturday 21 and Sunday 22 November: restart the router, run Check your Network on the TV, plug in Ethernet if you can, free up space for a download on your phone, and agree with friends whose account you will use.
• Monday 23 November: WWE Raw at 8 pm Eastern, which is 1 am Tuesday in the UK and noon Tuesday in Sydney. This is the dress rehearsal at the exact clock time.
• Wednesday 25 November, day of the game: check for app updates again, restart the TV or box, charge the phone that holds the account owner’s email, and tell the household nobody starts a 4K film on another TV after midnight.
• 30 minutes before kick-off (12:30 am UK, 4:30 am Gulf, 6:00 am India, 11:30 am Sydney): open the title (the pregame is already on), check sound and picture, switch the VPN off, close other streams in the house. If you are sleeping instead, mute your alerts now.
• Thursday 26 November: watch the replay on Thursday. Do not leave it to the weekend.

Next date for the diary: Christmas Day

If this goes well, Netflix has two more games on Friday 25 December: Packers at Bears at 1:00 pm ET (6:00 pm UK, 7:00 pm Central Europe, 10:00 pm Gulf, 11:30 pm India, 5:00 am Saturday in Sydney), then Bills at Broncos at 4:30 pm ET (9:30 pm UK, 10:30 pm Central Europe, 1:30 am Saturday Gulf, 3:00 am Saturday India, 8:30 am Saturday in Sydney). Kinder hours for Europe, crueller ones for Australia. Everything you test for the Thanksgiving Eve game carries straight over, so do the work once and enjoy the turkey twice.

The bottom line

The game is included in every Netflix plan, the adverts come along whatever you pay, and the risk sits in your living room, not your wallet. Update the app, stop casting, test on a real live event at the same hour, sort out a friend’s account before midnight, and if 1 am is beyond you, watch on Thursday and stay off social media until you have.

If your TV fails the live test, on Raw or any other live event, because its Netflix app cannot be updated, a streaming box that gets current apps is the cheap fix. Certified Google TV and Android TV boxes, like the SHIELD at the top of this list, get Netflix from Google Play. Netflix does not publish a model list for live, so run the same live test on any new box too. The Formuler at the end is an IPTV player box, not a Netflix pick.

Best IPTV boxes to buy

These are media boxes and sticks that can run players and licensed apps. The first six are Google certified Android TV or Google TV devices with Google Play; the last one, the Formuler, runs its own Android and is not certified. They are not pirate hardware. They do not come with channels or playlists. I am not claiming I personally lab-tested every SKU this month.

Buy one of these when: Fire TV sideload is a hassle on your model, you want Play Store apps on a proper TV OS, or you want a dedicated player shell behind the sofa. No Fire TV device is on this shortlist.

• NVIDIA SHIELD TV Pro: the premium pick, a certified Android TV player with AI upscaling, Dolby Vision/Atmos and Gigabit Ethernet for the main living-room telly. Amazon UK | Amazon US | Amazon DE | Amazon FR | Amazon IT
• Google TV Streamer 4K: solid Google TV living-room default with Ethernet, 32GB storage and Dolby Vision/Atmos. Amazon UK | Amazon US | Amazon DE | Amazon FR | Amazon IT
• Xiaomi TV Box S (3rd Gen): Google TV box with 32GB storage, Wi-Fi 6 and Dolby Vision/Atmos, the cheaper box route than the Streamer. Amazon UK | Amazon US | Amazon DE | Amazon FR | Amazon IT
• Xiaomi TV Stick 4K (2nd Gen): budget Google TV stick with Wi-Fi 6 and Dolby Vision/Atmos when you want HDMI-simple, not a full box. Amazon UK | Amazon US | Amazon DE | Amazon FR | Amazon IT
• Budget Google TV 4K player: a cheaper certified Google TV player for a second telly. The model differs by store, so each link names the one you get there. MECOOL KD3 (Amazon UK) | onn. Google TV 4K Streaming Box (Amazon US) | Strong LEAP-NOVA-X (Amazon DE) | Strong LEAP-NOVA-X (Amazon FR) | Strong LEAP-NOVA-X (Amazon IT)
• MECOOL MEon1: Google TV certified 4K box with AI upscaling and 32GB storage for a dedicated player behind the sofa. Amazon UK
• Formuler Z12 Ultra SE: the newest Formuler box, built around MYTVOnline 4 for IPTV playlists. It runs Formuler’s own Android rather than certified Google TV, so there is no Netflix in HD and it is the one box here without Google certification. Formuler Z12 Ultra SE (Amazon UK) | Formuler Z12 Ultra SE (Amazon US) | Formuler Z12 Ultra SE (Amazon DE) | Formuler Z12 Ultra SE (Amazon FR) | Formuler Z12 Ultra SE (Amazon IT)

Still shopping for a Fire TV device? Fine for Prime Video and the Appstore universe. Not the shortlist above. And none of these boxes magically make unlicensed streams legal.

Sources I read for this piece, all on 18 October 2026 unless dated: Netflix Help Centre “Live events on Netflix” (including its country versions), “Plans and Pricing” (country versions for the US, UK, Germany, France, Canada, Australia, India and the UAE), “Netflix recommended internet speeds”, “How to check device compatibility for an ad-supported experience”, “Your TV/device isn’t part of the Netflix Household” and “How many countries and regions is Netflix available in?”; Netflix Tudum “NFL on Netflix Expands in 2026” (8 October 2026) and “NFL on Netflix 2026: Full Schedule” (updated 11 September 2026); the game’s Netflix title page; NFL.com‘s 2026 schedule release story on the Thanksgiving Eve game; NFL Support “How to watch the NFL Christmas Day games on Netflix?” (last season, January 2026); Seven Network press release (31 July 2026); Sporting News on the NFL Melbourne broadcasters (September 2026); DAZN’s NFL Game Pass guide (14 October 2026); and TV Licensing “Watching TV live, online and on mobile devices”. Kick-off conversions checked with Python’s zoneinfo time zone database. Featured photo: Rams fans at SoFi Stadium by PontiacAurora, Wikimedia Commons, CC0.

Written by Dr Husham Memar