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NFL video games on Christmas Day stay the items that carry on giving for the league, and that may proceed in 2024 with two matchups regardless of the vacation falling on a Wednesday, it was introduced.
Matchups for the video games, which is able to embody groups that play on the earlier Saturday to account for the restoration window, have but to be decided.
“After we noticed the viewership from this previous yr, actually our followers spoke,” NFL govt vp of media distribution Hans Schroeder mentioned. “We definitely noticed and consider that they’re very a lot having fun with and wanting NFL soccer on Christmas.”
YearDayMatchups1971Sat.Cowboys-Vikings*Dolphins-Chiefs*1989Mon.Bengals-Vikings1993Sat.Oilers-49ers1994Sun.Lions-Dolphins1995Mon.Cowboys-Cardinals1999Sat.Broncos-Lions2000Mon.Cowboys-Titans2004Sat.Raiders-ChiefsBroncos-Titans2005Sun.Bears-PackersVikings-Ravens2006Mon.Eagles-CowboysJets-Dolphins2009Fri.Chargers-Titans2010Sat.Cowboys-Cardinals2011Sun.Bears-Packers2016Sun.Ravens-SteelersBroncos-Chiefs2017Mon.Steelers-TexansRaiders-Eagles2020Fri.Vikings-Saints2021Sat.Browns-PackersColts-Cardinals2022Sun.Packers-DolphinsBroncos-RamsBucs-Cardinals2023Mon.Raiders-ChiefsGiants-EaglesRavens-49ers** Divisional playoff video games
The NFL performed three video games on Christmas Day 2023, with the Baltimore Ravens-San Francisco 49ers, New York Giants-Philadelphia Eagles and Las Vegas Raiders-Kansas Metropolis Chiefs matchups all being performed on a Monday.
The Christmas Day video games have generated huge tv scores, with ESPN’s Ravens-49ers telecast having greater than 27.2 million viewers, making it the second most-watched “Monday Night time Soccer” recreation since 1996.
“From what we have seen the final couple years is basically some unprecedented development, and never simply on Christmas, on Thanksgiving, too,” Schroeder mentioned. “The final couple of years have had the highest-regular season recreation ever seen within the common season. That mindset, that chance, that perception we now have that soccer brings folks collectively — that is even more true on these massive holidays that occur all year long.”
Wednesday video games are uncommon. The final time a recreation was performed on a Wednesday got here in 2021, when a COVID-19 outbreak pressured the Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers to delay their deliberate Thanksgiving recreation till the next Wednesday.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell mentioned video games on Wednesdays “won’t be an everyday factor” and that the league has not seen an elevation of accidents from taking part in mid-week video games.
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“Properly, I believe the times are the identical for us. We have finished this,” Goodell mentioned of the four-day window that might be much like groups taking part in on a Thursday after having performed the earlier Sunday. “In reality, COVID was a studying alternative. I believe it was the primary time we performed on a Wednesday … however the time interval between video games has been finished earlier than.
“Now we have not seen any elevation of accidents. You all, and we, have had a significant concentrate on Thursday evening once we first put it in, and we have nonetheless not seen any form of elevation of accidents. So I believe we now have this down.”
Total, the league has had 30 video games on Christmas Day because the NFL held two divisional playoff video games on Dec. 25, 1971. There have been 9 video games performed on the vacation since 2020.
This would be the fifth straight season the NFL has performed on Christmas, encroaching on a sports activities day usually dominated by the NBA.
In 2024, the NFL schedule requires the league to be idle solely on Tuesdays.
The league holds video games each week on Sunday, Monday and Thursday, with some late-season contests held on Saturday. A Black Friday recreation was launched final yr and can proceed in 2024, and a Week 1 recreation in Brazil additionally will happen on Friday.
Subject Degree Media contributed to this report.
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