NFL games on Christmas

[cowboybish]

What are your thoughts on the NFL having
games on Christmas day?

 

[Gorgon]

I seem to recall they did in the 70s.

 

[Runwildboys]

What are your thoughts on the NFL having
games on Christmas day?

I think it's unfair to the families of the players who have games that day. I realize that it'd be difficult to not play when Christmas falls on a regular football day, but specifically adding games on Christmas wouldn't be right, IMO. Besides, it probably wouldn't get the viewership, because of people celebrating Christmas.

 

[maryquality]

What's even worse is having the games on Netflix. I wonder if Netflix fixed their buffering issues.

 

[BoysForLife]

I think it's unfair to the families of the players who have games that day. I realize that it'd be difficult to not play when Christmas falls on a regular football day, but specifically adding games on Christmas wouldn't be right, IMO. Besides, it probably wouldn't get the viewership, because of people celebrating Christmas.

Well said.

I'd only add one more item:

Logistically it would be a nightmare on years like this where it falls early in the week but not Monday. So you'd have teams playing on even shorter rest than Thursday games (which are already short) and doing that just before the playoffs could be rough

If Christmas fell on the same day of the week every year like Thanksgiving always being on a Thursday it would be doable even though I agree with your reasoning above that they shouldn't do it

But since Christmas could fall on any day of the week it would be tough to institute it. You could potentially have teams playing on 3 days rest. Not safe

 

[SlammedZero]

Making teams play 3 days after their last game seems rough. NFL has to get those views though.

Hopefully Netflix has their kinks worked out.

 

[BoysForLife]

Making teams play 3 days after their last game seems rough. NFL has to get those views though.

Hopefully Netflix has their kinks worked out.

Same page. Agreed. If they're serious at all about player safety they would have to pass on this.

That said, for Goodell $ matters most..... so it could happen.....

 

[Runwildboys]

Same page. Agreed. If they're serious at all about player safety they would have to pass on this.

That said, for Goodell $ matters most..... so it could happen.....

In this case, I think it would be the owners trying to make more money, rather than Goodell. He basically does their bidding.

 

[BoysForLife]

In this case, I think it would be the owners trying to make more money, rather than Goodell. He basically does their bidding.

Agreed. You're correct

 

[gtb1943]

Goofsmell does not wipe his butt without making sure the majority of the owners approve

 

[triplets_93]

Netflix and the NFL know what people want to watch on Christmas Day . . .

https://apnews.com/article/netflix-christmas-nfl-beyonce-9b65162dbe7e3fe1a2dd13d2da89e966
Netflix’s 282.3 million subscribers in over 190 countries will be able to stream the games, marking the first time one outlet has distributed an NFL game globally. Netflix will have the games available in five languages — English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, and German.

The games will also air on CBS affiliates in Kansas City, Pittsburgh, Baltimore and Houston. NFL policy dictates that games on cable or being exclusively streamed must also be on an over-the-air station in the competing teams’ markets. It will also be available on mobile devices in the U.S. for those who have NFL+.

Why is the NFL putting Christmas Day games on a streaming platform?​

The biggest reason is money. The league is getting $150 million from Netflix for the two games this season. It also continues the NFL’s moves into streaming — Thursday night games are in their third season on Amazon Prime Video and the “Sunday Ticket” package moved to YouTube TV last year.

But Christmas is on a Wednesday when games usually aren’t played.​

That’s true, but the league wasn’t about to give up Christmas after seeing the ratings. Last year’s three games averaged 28.68 million viewers. The early afternoon contest between the Las Vegas Raiders and Chiefs led the way, averaging 29.48 million.

The Chiefs, Steelers, Ravens and Texans played on Saturday, giving them the same turnaround they would have if they played on Sunday and then Thursday.

When could there be surge in demand on Wednesday?​

It will probably beat kickoff for both games, but especially around 5:45 p.m. EST. That would be near halftime of the Ravens-Texans game, and when Beyoncé will be performing.

What other celebrities will appear?​

Mariah Carey will kick off the day with a taped performance of “All I Want for Christmas is You.”

There is no word if Taylor Swift will make the trip to Pittsburgh to watch her boyfriend, Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce. Swift has been spending time in Kansas City since she wrapped up her Eras Tour two weeks ago.

 

[Flamma]

I have no problem with games on Christmas. But it should be nationally televised. This is not the day they should be excluding a lot of people from watching. Pick a different week for Netflix.

 

[cald0d30s0]

NFL is becoming more and more private so only some people can’t watch it, not the general public. Streaming platforms are screwing the game.

 

[csirl]

Timings of the games were chosen for the international audience rather than the US audience - evenings in Europe when everyone is settling down before the TV after finishing their afternoon Christmas dinner. Scott Hansen spending most of the broadcast trying to include tweets from the "more than 190 countries who are watching...."