Fans watch a game between the Jacksonville Jaguars and Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Christmas Eve at Raymond James Stadium. Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports

NFL changes tone on Christmas Day Wednesday game

By Victor Barbosa | Last updated 3/26/24

The NFL has changed its mind, and fans can expect Christmas Day action on the gridiron next winter despite the 2024 holiday falling on a Wednesday.

New: After the NFL previously said it wouldn’t play on Christmas this year because the holiday is on a Wednesday, the league is calling an audible.

Christmas NFL will be back this year, with games played by teams that played the previous Saturday. https://t.co/bCUZ8P7hjp
— Andrew Beaton (@andrewlbeaton) March 26, 2024

NFL executive vice president of media distribution Hans Schroeder told the Wall Street Journal's Andrew Beaton last December that the league wouldn't schedule games on Christmas Day, when Dec. 25 fell on a Tuesday or Wednesday.

Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio said he didn't buy Schroeder's claim.

"With Christmas 2024 landing on a Wednesday, I believe the league will indeed play games that day," Florio said. "It won’t be easy to schedule. It might require, for example, having the six Christmas teams play the prior Thursday and/or Friday. Or perhaps it will require a more creative use of bye weeks, giving the Christmas teams the prior weekend off."

What is clear is that after having time to analyze and realize just how dominant the NFL is regarding Christmas Day ratings, the decision-makers wanted to prioritize that.

There were three NFL Christmas Day games in 2023 (Las Vegas Raiders vs. Kansas City Chiefs, New York Giants vs. Philadelphia Eagles, Baltimore Ravens vs. San Francisco 49ers). The lowest-rated football contest (Ravens-49ers) surpassed the highest-rated NBA game (Los Angeles Lakers vs. Boston Celtics) by more than 22 million viewers.

The Baltimore-San Francisco clash garnered 27.2 million eyes, while the Lakers-Celtics showdown drew just five million viewers.

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