The NFL has played games on Christmas Day over the last two years, first taking the opportunity in 2022 of Christmas being on a Sunday to play a trio of games and, because that did so well, they ran it back this past year with Christmas falling on a Monday.
However, in 2024, the holiday falls on a Wednesday which meant most expected the league to take at least one year off from its Christmas programming, as they don’t ever play games on Wednesday. However, the NFL can’t help but look at the ratings for their Christmas slate the last couple years and not have their eyes do the cartoon slot machine thing with money signs, so as reported by Jonathan Jones of CBS and Adam Schefter of ESPN, the league will indeed put a game on Christmas this year.
Source to @NFLonCBS: The NFL plans to play on Christmas Day again in 2024, even though the holiday falls on a Wednesday. This is a reversal of the league's previous stance. Christmas Day games draw massive TV ratings. @andrewlbeaton first on the report.
— Jonathan Jones (@jjones9) March 26, 2024
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
One would think they will have to schedule a bye (or Thursday night games) the week before for whoever plays that Wednesday, and that’ll be a trick for the NFL schedule maker.
UPDATE: They will not get a bye or Thursday games, but instead Saturday games meaning a short week into a short week for the four teams that get put on the Christmas schedule.
The NFL is planning on playing TWO games on Christmas, a Wednesday, this year, per sources. The plan is for the four teams playing on Wednesday to also be part of a doubleheader the previous Saturday, so they get TNF-like run up to the game.
Tough haul for those teams, though.
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) March 26, 2024
While I’m not sure the players on the teams that draw the Christmas assignment will be thrilled with a Wednesday night game, the team owners will be and fans will gobble it up. The real loser here is the NBA, which has always made a 5-game Christmas slate its marquee day of the regular season, only to have the NFL slide on in to steal away a chunk of the spotlight.
