Previously, NFL officials suggested that the league would not play games on Christmas if it fell on something other than a Saturday through Monday. That meant Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday were out.
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Or so we thought.
Instead, the league is indeed planning to play on Christmas Day in 2024, as relayed by Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. This year's Christmas Day is on a Wednesday.
That also means the NFL will again go head-to-head with the NBA — and surely wallop it in the ratings. Christmas used to belong almost exclusively to pro basketball. It wasn't until recently that the NFL took over.
NFL is planning to play another game this year on Christmas Day, which is on a Wednesday. So a Wednesday Christmas Day game coming.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 26, 2024
"From 2022 to 2023, viewership for the NFL's Christmas tripleheader went up by nearly 30 percent, to 28.7 million. NBA viewership that same day is cratering," Florio wrote.
He continued, "There was no way the NFL was surrendering that territory. Every Who down in Whoville knew what was what. There's a new Grinch in town, and the Big Shield version of the Dr. Seuss green goblin will be stealing each and every Christmas from the NBA, carving up basketball's ratings like so much roast beast."
Man, he's got that right.
The NFL dunks on the NBA in any head-to-head matchup, not just on Christmas. In fact, pro football dunks on most everything available to watch. It's just that much of a beast.
That said, playing games on a Wednesday may not be ideal for the guys who, you know, actually have to play.
"The two teams playing in the Christmas Day game this year almost certainly will have to have their bye week during the preceding week — or perhaps one of the teams might play on the preceding Thursday night," wrote Dan Zaksheske of Outkick.
Football games? On a Wednesday? Yeah, it sure looks that way. And once again, the NFL will steal Christmas.
