Christmas time is known for gathering with loved ones and enjoying holiday traditions with family and friends gathered together ahead of the New Year.
Although, now more than ever, there’s been an added element during the season of giving: sports.
While the NBA has had a slate of five games on Christmas Day for each of the last 16 seasons, the NFL is now finding different ways to get involved by branching out from of their standard games on Thursdays, Sundays and Mondays.
For the first time ever, the NFL had a game on Black Friday this season where the Miami Dolphins defeated the New York Jets, 34-13, at MetLife Stadium the day after Thanksgiving.
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It was also announced that this Saturday night’s “Peacock’s holiday exclusive” game between the Los Angeles Chargers and Buffalo Bills will be the first game featuring a commercial-free fourth quarter, per a press release from NBC on Thursday.
Since 2020, there’s been football on both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day as the holiday has fortunately fallen between a Friday to Monday each of the past four years.
With the recent surge of NFL games taking over, it should be no surprise that it’s dominated viewership. Last year, going head-to-head against the NBA on Christmas Day for the first time, the NFL’s average audience was statistically five times greater than those watching basketball. The three-game slate in 2022 averaged between 21.88 million viewers, while the five matchups in the NBA had an average of 4.31 million viewers.
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Next year will be more challenging for the NFL as 2024 is a leap year, meaning Christmas Day will be on a Wednesday.
Regardless if you’re more of a fan of football or basketball, there’s now plenty of viewing options for this upcoming holiday weekend.
Here’s the full list of all the action taking place in the NFL and NBA on both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day:
New York Jets vs. Commanders, 1 p.m. on CBS
Denver vs. New England, 8:20 p.m. on NBC
New York vs. Milwaukee, 12 p.m. on ESPN
Denver vs. Golden State, 2:30 p.m. on ESPN and ABC
Los Angeles vs. Boston, 5 p.m. on ESPN and ABC
New York Giants vs. Philadelphia, 4:30 p.m. on FOX
San Francisco vs. Baltimore, 8:15 p.m. on ABC and ESPN+
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