The NFL is starting a new holiday tradition and will change the way millions of Americans spend the holidays

• The NFL will play two nationally televised games on Christmas this year.

• Previously, the NFL skipped games on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, but TV ratings were huge.

• This move could lead to more weekday games and potentially increase NFL revenue.

The NFL is already closely associated with Thanksgiving and now wants to make it a bigger part of Christmas.

The NFL announced in March that it would play two nationally televised games on Christmas this year.

While the league has played games on Dec. 25 before, this year is unusual because the holiday falls on a Wednesday, a day the league typically avoids. And after 2024, the NFL will have had the same number of Christmas games in the last two years as it did between 1973 and 2003. If this trend continues, NFL games on Christmas could continue to become an annual tradition, and the move could be one have a major impact on how millions of Americans spend their vacations.

Previously, the NFL only played on Christmas when it fell on one of the traditional days for NFL games – Sunday, Monday, Thursday and Saturday. The NFL typically avoids games on Tuesdays and Wednesdays to avoid short-week scenarios in which teams do not get enough rest between games and may be at higher risk of injury.

But the TV ratings of the past Christmas games were huge.

The NFL saw huge TV numbers on Christmas

The NFL's three Christmas games in 2023 averaged 29.2 million viewers, according to CBS, which will broadcast the game. This included some of the league's – and Taylor Swift's – most popular teams, including the San Francisco 49ers, New York Giants, Philadelphia Eagles, Las Vegas Raiders and the eventual Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs.

According to Nielsen, the 2023 Christmas Games were among the 19 most-watched programs on television last year. However, they still lagged behind the Turkey Day games, as those averaged 33 million viewers and had two of the top seven telecasts of the year.

Without knowing which teams will participate in the games and what time slots they will take place in, it is difficult to predict how big they will be compared to recent Christmas and Thanksgiving games, said Jon Lewis, founder of Sports Media News and information site Sports Media Watch.

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“While I think viewership should remain high, last year's matches were particularly hit or miss,” Lewis told Business Insider.

If the NFL is the big winner on Christmas, it will come at the expense of the NBA, which has long been the holiday's premier annual sports attraction, featuring games from the best teams and many of the most popular players.

However, NBA games are not nearly as popular in U.S. households over the holidays as the NFL, and the gap is widening. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the five NBA games played on Christmas in 2023 averaged 2.9 million viewers. That was 30% less than in 2022.

The NFL won't stop on Christmas

With the NFL breaking the tradition of avoiding games on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, this could not only mean having games on Christmas every year, but it could also be the first step toward more midweek games.

More nationally televised weeknight games was an idea the league appeared to be slowly preparing for last year.

In March 2023, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell told the media that short-week games do not lead to more injuries. He pointed to the league's success in moving games to non-traditional days due to COVID-19 outbreaks among teams in 2020, including a game that was moved to a Wednesday.

“My instincts are consistent with what Roger Goodell said when he referenced events during the pandemic,” NBC NFL analyst Mike Florio said on “Pro Football Talk” following Goodell’s comments in 2023. . “In five to 10 years they will do it.” I'll be playing games on Tuesday nights and Wednesday nights every week.

If the NFL schedules more games, it could lead to more revenue for the league.

ESPN, which will broadcast 21 national games in 2024, pays the league $2.7 billion annually. On the other hand, CBS aired 107 games in 2023, but only six were nationally televised games. This network pays the NFL $2.1 billion per year.

In total, the NFL receives about $10 billion per year for TV deals with CBS, NBC, Fox, ESPN and Amazon.

While additional games could lead to increased revenue, Lewis is skeptical that the Christmas games will draw a larger audience than the Thanksgiving games.

“I don’t think Christmas will overtake Thanksgiving any time soon, as the latter continues to be a much bigger draw,” Lewis said.

Read the original article on Business Insider