Mina Kimes has a lot going on this week.
Like so many other people this time of the year, the analyst for ESPN’s “NFL Live” has been busy wrapping presents and preparing for the arrival of out-of-town guests for the holidays.
In addition to those typical holiday activities, however, Kimes also has to break down film and attend a Christmas Eve rehearsal ahead of her one-off gig as a studio analyst for the Kansas City Chiefs-Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens-Houston Texans games streaming live Christmas Day on Netflix.
“Yeah it’s been pretty crazy,” Kimes said Monday during a phone interview. “I’m just excited. I usually just do a studio show during the week that I absolutely love, but there’s a level of energy that comes with doing television right before kickoff and also during the game and after. … Like, in real time, let’s see how Joey Porter Jr. or George Pickens or any of the injured players look, and their availability and that kind of thing.
“And that adds a different element to it that I’m really personally super excited about. But I just love talking ball on television and just to have the opportunity to do this in front of this many people is quite a Christmas gift.”
The last sporting event streamed live on Netflix was a massive success — an estimated 108-million live viewers in around 65 million households worldwide tuned in Nov. 15 to watch the Mike Tyson-Jake Paul fight — but also a huge headache for many consumers, who complained on social media about buffering issues and losing the feed altogether.
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Netflix told The Times on Monday that it learned from the struggles it faced during the Tyson-Paul live stream and has optimized its systems to better handle live events since then. Kimes is hopeful that all such issues have been resolved ahead of the two NFL games, both of which will be key to AFC playoff seedings and one of which (Ravens-Texans) will feature a halftime show by Beyoncé.
“The technological aspect of this is above my pay grade, but everybody seems pretty confident about it,” she said. “Obviously it’s gonna be a bajillion eyeballs on these games, so my hope is that on our end when we’re on everything’s seamless, not just from a tech and streaming standpoint but from a production standpoint. And so far it seems like it will be, just a lot of experienced folks working on this.”
Netflix’s first foray into NFL games will feature a slew of talent from various other platforms. Kimes will be on the Los Angeles studio show, along with anchor Kay Adams (FanDuel TV) and fellow analysts Manti Te’o (NFL Network), Robert Griffin III (formerly of ESPN) and Drew Brees (formerly of NBC Sports). A studio show from Pittsburgh will feature Laura Rutledge (ESPN) as anchor and Devin McCourty (NBC Sports) and Jason McCourty (CBS Sports and ESPN) as analysts.
“It’s kind of like a Pro Bowl of sorts,” Kimes said. “That sounds self aggrandizing, but I guess I mean so far as I get to work with a lot of people who I don’t usually get to work with, which is kind of cool. It’s a lot of folks from a lot of different networks and that is also something that is kind of like unique about this.”
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Here’s more from Kimes’ conversation with The Times.
(The questions and answers have been edited for length and clarity)
How did this all come about for you?
I can’t remember when I first heard about the possibility – a few months ago or something? But whenever my agent told me about it I was really excited for a litany of reasons, one of which was just the opportunity to work on such massively significant games and obviously ones that are gonna have a lot of eyeballs. Really good games, too, by the way — which, I mean, good for Netflix but also great for me because it’s a lot more fun to talk about games like the ones we’re gonna be discussing on Christmas.
Was there any hesitation to do this during the holidays? I know you have a little one at home …
Well, here’s the good news — he’s 14 months old, so I can just tell him Christmas is the next day and he won’t know the difference. I have family coming in actually today and even if I wasn’t on the show they would be watching it. They’re huge football fans. They would have Netflix on all day anyways, so I think they’re almost as excited by the idea of just sitting all day and watching me, probably more so than if I was spending time with them because they see a lot of me in person.
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So your studio show is going to be on all day, before, during and after both games?
Yeah, that’s why everybody’s watching halftime, right? To watch our show. Like, ‘Come on, enough Beyonce. One song, let’s get back. I really gotta hear this analysis.’
This has been a busy month for you, after serving as a color commentator for “The Simpsons Funday Football” alternative broadcast of the Cincinnati Bengals-Dallas Cowboys game Dec. 9. How was that experience?
It was awesome. It was an absolute dream. I’m a crazy Simpsons fan and I think we realized early on — me, Drew [Carter] and Dan [Orlovsky] — just to lean all the way into all the Simpsons jokes and references. It seems like fans of the show really enjoyed that.
You have made numerous appearances on ESPN’s “Around the Horn.” What was your reaction to learning that the show will be coming to an end next year?
That show has meant so much to my career. That’s how I really got my start in television at ESPN. I don’t think I’d be doing what I’m doing now if not for ‘Around the Horn.’ … So it really kind of made me reflect on I guess the role that the show has played [in] my career. I’m gonna miss doing it a lot because I’m an NFL analyst now, but for me it was one of those platforms [where] you could talk about other sports and topics and I always really, really enjoyed it. It’s a special show.
Read more: ESPN to pull the plug on ‘Around the Horn’ next year after more than two decades on air
What are your predictions for the Christmas games?
It’s boring — I got both of the favorites winning, the Ravens and Chiefs. The Steelers’ defensive injuries are very concerning.
What about a Beyonce prediction? Any special guests you think might join her?
I think you might see a special guest from Houston. Don’t know who that’s gonna be, but I predict that whatever it is, people will wish it was twice as long instead of having to listen to me talk.
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
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