The NFL Dominated Christmas Day Ratings, Even as the NBA Delivered Better Games

 

Photo from the Joe Pomp Show

The NBA has been a Christmas Day tradition since 1947, holding exclusive control over the holiday spotlight for decades. With no other major live sports on TV, NBA games became a go-to for families gathering together, offering an easy way to enjoy the holiday with basketball on in the background.

Unfortunately for the NBA, that is no longer the case. In March, when the NFL was about to release the 2024 schedule, they announced that two games would be played on Christmas Day, streaming on Netflix.

While the NFL has previously had games on Christmas (like in 2022 when Christmas fell on a Sunday), this marks the first time they are scheduling games outside of the normal football schedule (Sunday, Monday, Thursday), with the intention of making Christmas Day games a regular tradition.

The NFL is by far and away the most-watched American professional sport. To put it in perspective, the 2024 NBA Finals saw an average of 11.3 million viewers for the series, and the 2024 MLB World Series saw an average of 14.3 million viewers for the series. Currently, the NFL averages 17.4 million viewers a week, and that's just regular season numbers; last year's Super Bowl eclipsed 123 million viewers.

Who Played and When

There was definitely competition for viewership between these two leagues as several of their games overlapped.

The NFL hosted two games on Christmas. The Kansas City Chiefs (14-1) traveled to Pennsylvania to take on the Pittsburgh Steelers (10–6); kickoff was at 1:00 PM ET. Then at 4:30 PM ET, the Baltimore Ravens (11-5) traveled to Texas to face off against the Houston Texans (9-7), accompanied by a halftime performance from Houston native Beyoncé.

The NBA hosted four games on Christmas. Beginning with the San Antonio Spurs (15-13) heading to the Big Apple to take on the New York Knicks (20-10), tip-off was at 12:00 PM ET. At 2:30 PM ET the Dallas Mavericks (19-11) hosted the Minnesota Timberwolves (15-14). At 5:00 PM ET, the Philadelphia 76ers took a short trip to Massachusetts to take on the Boston Celtics (22-8). At 7:30 PM ET, the Golden State Warriors (15-14) headed down to southern California to take on the Los Angeles Lakers (17-13), and to cap off the night at 10:00 PM ET, the Denver Nuggets (16-12) went to Arizona to take on the Phoenix Suns (15-14).

TV Viewership Numbers

Following the Lakers game, LeBron James told ESPN, “I love the NFL, I love the NFL, but Christmas is our day.”

With all due respect to LeBron, he could not have been more wrong.

The Chiefs-Ravens game averaged over 24 million viewers, and the Ravens-Texans game saw over 27 million viewers.

The Spurs-Knicks game averaged an audience of 4.9 million viewers, which was the most-watched opening day Christmas game in 13 years. The Timberwolves-Mavericks game averaged 4.3 million viewers, and the Sixers-Celtics generated 5.6 million viewers. The winner of the day for the NBA was the Warriors-Lakers game, which saw an average viewership of 7.7 million viewers; this marked the NBA's most-watched regular season game since 2019. The Nuggets-Suns wrapped up the night with an average of 3.8 million viewers, the largest ever for the late Christmas window.

Recapping the Action

The NFL getting significantly more views than the NBA is not surprising considering the vast difference in popularity.

What was a surprise, at least to me, was that the NBA did not steal away viewership from the NFL given the entertainment value provided on this particular day.

Both NFL games were a blowout and basically noncompetitive from kickoff until the final whistle. The Chiefs beat the Steelers 29-10, and the Ravens dominated the Texans 31-2. I personally stopped watching both games by the fourth quarter; the boredom was too strong.

Meanwhile, the NBA could not have asked for a better outcome of games. Each game was ultra-competitive and close. The Spurs-Knicks game went down to the last possession, where the Knicks were able to grab a few offensive rebounds to secure a 117-114 victory.

The Timberwolves were up 90-68 entering the fourth quarter, but the Mavericks made a huge comeback, trailing 101-99 with 36 seconds remaining. The Timberwolves would close the game out with free throws down the stretch and secure a 105-99 victory.

The 76ers had a comfortable 105-90 lead with 5:38 remaining in the fourth quarter, or so they thought. The Celtics went on a run, and a Jaylen Brown three-pointer had the Celtics down 116-114 with 4.2 seconds remaining. The Celtics fouled Joel Embiid on the following possession, who knocked down both free throws to give Philly a 118-114 victory.

In LA, the Warriors were down 109-100 with 1:48 remaining in the fourth. Thanks to some missed free throws by the Lakers and Stephen Curry being Stephen Curry, they rallied. Steph hit a three with 12.2 seconds remaining, and the Warriors were down 111-110. On the ensuing possession, Austin Reaves was fouled and hit both free throws to give the Lakers a 113-110 lead with 8.2 seconds left. The Warriors called a timeout and got the ball at half court, where on the inbound play, Steph hit another 3 to tie the game at 113 apiece with 7.1 seconds remaining. Austin Reaves would be the hero for the Lakers, who drove to the basket, beating Andrew Wiggins and making a layup to give the Lakers a 115-113 lead with 1.1 seconds remaining. Steph would chuck up a full-court shot, but it did not hit, and the Lakers went home with a thrilling Christmas Day W.

The only game that did not come down to the final minute was the Nuggets-Suns. The Suns were up 85-78 entering the fourth quarter and were able to maintain that lead, defeating the Nuggets by a final score of 110-100.

The Cold Hard Truth For The NBA

The NBA couldn’t have asked for a better showcase on one of the biggest viewing days of the year, while the NFL served up two boring games. However, the numbers show that it didn’t make a difference. The NFL is so much more popular than the NBA that even when the NBA is offering higher entertainment value, people would rather see an NFL game, regardless of the game being completely lopsided and boring.

What can the NBA do to become more competitive with the NFL on Christmas?

There is very little they can do. The fact that three of the four games played consecutively on the same day came down to the wire is unbelievably rare and will not be repeated anytime soon.

Maybe they could look into using a streaming service for Christmas Day games. According to NBC News, apps like Netflix and other streaming platforms capture 38% of all television viewing, compared with 31% for traditional cable. The NFL games were streamed on Netflix while the NBA games were broadcasted by both ABC and ESPN.

Bottom Line

Even though the NBA has practically owned Christmas Day for over 70 years and delivered some exciting games, the NFL’s popularity still comes out on top. Even with more thrilling matchups, the NFL’s massive viewership makes it tough for the NBA to compete, showing it’ll take more than just great games to challenge the NFL’s grip on Christmas.