Games held by theNational Football League(NFL) onChristmas Day,December 25, are an occasional part of the league's schedule. In contrast toThanksgiving Day games,however, they have not been an annual occurrence, sinceThanksgivingis always on a Thursday while Christmas can fall on any day of the week. The NFL held twoDivisional Playoffgames on Christmas Day in1971when theregular seasononly spanned a 14-week period. This proved unpopular, and the league avoided any more games on Christmas Day until1989.Since then, the league has played occasional Christmas Day and/orChristmas Evegames in certain years, as part of week 16 or 17 of the regular season.
As of the end of the2023 season,there have been 30 Christmas Day games in the NFL's history, all broadcast nationally. Two games were played each Christmas Day from2004to2006,2016to2017,and2021(and will do so again in2024). In2022and2023,three games were scheduled.
From1989to2019,the NFL had typically scheduled games on Christmas Day if it fell on a Saturday, Sunday, or Monday. Beginning in2020,the league has scheduled at least one Christmas game every season, even when the holiday falls on a day in which the NFL does not usually schedule games.
If Christmas Day falls on a Sunday, then the normal slate of Sunday afternoon games is instead played on Saturday, Christmas Eve, and one of the Christmas Day games will include the standardSunday Night Footballtelecast. When Christmas Day falls on a Monday, the normal slate of Sunday afternoon games is still played on Christmas Eve, andMonday Night Footballon Christmas night, but theSunday Night Footballtelecast has been moved to either Monday afternoon or to Saturday, December 23.
History
editEarly years
editIn the earliest days of professional football, the season typically ended near the end of November (marquee games were oftenplayed on Thanksgiving) or in the first week of December, depending on the team;exhibition gameswould then be held in the winter. Once league schedules were standardized in the 1930s, theNFL Championship Gamewas typically held in mid-December. The1943 NFL Championship Game,played on December 26 of that year because of scheduling complications brought on by World War II, was the first regulation NFL game to be played on or after Christmas.
From 1943 until the 1970 AFL-NFL Merger, the NFL regular season usually ended in mid-December, with theNFL ChampionshipGame being held on the Sunday two weeks later. If that Sunday fell onChristmas DayDecember 25, the league preferred to move it to the following day, Monday, December 26; this rescheduling occurred for both the1955and the1960championship games.
TheAmerican Football League(AFL) compensated differently: the 1960championship gamewas moved back by a full week, being played onNew Year's Day1961, with Christmas Sunday being an off-week. (The NFL's1966 championship gamewas also held on Sunday, January 1, 1967, two weeks after the end of the regular season.) New Year's Day was an available day since the collegebowl gamesare moved back to Monday, January 2 in years in which January 1 falls on a Sunday. The AFL had scheduled the 1966 championship game for Monday afternoon December 26, but when the two leagues agreed to merge in 1970 and play a "World Championship game"starting with the 1966 season, the AFL game was moved back to Sunday, January 1.
1971 Divisional Playoffs
editThe first NFL games actually played on December 25 came after the merger, during the1971–72 NFL playoffs.The first two games of the Divisional Playoff Round were held on Christmas Day; the first of these was between theDallas Cowboysand theMinnesota Vikings,while the second of the two contests played that afternoon, theMiami Dolphinsversus theKansas City Chiefs,wound up beingthe longest game in NFL history.[1]Because of the length of the latter game, the NFL received numerous complaints, reportedly due to the fact that it caused havoc with Christmas dinners around the nation. The league also came under fire from some quarters for intruding on a traditional religious and family holiday, and a Kansas state legislator proposed a bill to ban the scheduling of future games on December 25.[2][3]As a result, the NFL decided to not schedule any Christmas Day games for the next 17 seasons.
1972–1988: Avoiding Christmas Day
editThis required considerable effort during those years in which Christmas Day fell on a Saturday or a Sunday, given that ordinarily those days would be days in whichNFL playoffgames were to be held.
In1976,the NFL opened its regular season a week earlier than would have ordinarily been the case (September 12, the second Sunday of the month, rather than the customary third Sunday) so that the Divisional Playoffs could be held on December 18 and 19 instead of December 25 and 26, and thus no games would be needed on Saturday, December 25 (Super Bowl XIwas subsequently played on January 9, the earliest date inSuper Bowlhistory).
In1977,with Christmas Day falling on a Sunday, the Divisional Playoff Games were held around the holiday, with an AFC doubleheader on Saturday, December 24, and an NFC doubleheader on Monday, December 26. This was done so that one team did not have a two-day rest advantage over the other for the Conference Championship games (the NFL only allowed one-day rest advantages). This scheduling resulted in most of the country missing the majority of the first quarter of thePittsburgh Steelers–Denver Broncosgame telecast (beginning at 4:00 p.m. EST), since the early AFC game that Saturday (Oakland Raiders–Baltimore Colts,beginning at 12:30 p.m. EST) went into double overtime; with an ordinary schedule of one game from each conference, viewers would have had the option of switching channels (or using a VCR) but in this caseNBCsimply stayed with the Raiders–Colts game (except in the Pittsburgh and Denver markets) and had to overlap its telecasts.
The NFL continued to avoid Christmas Day even after it started to extend the length of the regular season and the playoffs. The league expanded to a 16-game regular season and a 10-team playoff tournament in1978,but it was not until1982that the regular season ended after Christmas Day. It was originally scheduled to end on Sunday, December 26 of that year, but the regular season was extended to Sunday, January 2, 1983, after the 57-day NFL players' strike reduced the season from 16 games to 9; the NFL compensated by extending the regular season one week and eliminating the off week between the conference championships and the Super Bowl.
In1983and again in1988,the NFL split the first round Wild Card Playoffs between Saturday, December 24 and Monday, December 26 to avoid a Christmas Day game.
Had theUnited States Football League(USFL) survived to play its autumn1986 season,it would have featured the first major professional football games to be played in the regular season on Christmas Day; the USFL planned a complete set of four games for Christmas Day.[4]The USFL suspended operations prior to the 1986 season and the games were never played.
1989–2019: Occasional regular season games on Christmas Day
editFinally, in1989,the NFL tried another Christmas Day game,CincinnatiatMinnesota,but it was a 9:00 p.m. ESTMonday Night Footballcontest onABC,thereby avoiding interfering with family dinners. The NFL pushed the regular season back one week in 1989 as a one-off experiment, meaning Christmas Day would fall during the last week of the regular season instead of the first round of the playoffs. The league added abye weekto its schedule in1990,making Christmas Day permanently fall during the regular season. In the years since, the NFL has played an occasional late-afternoon or night game on the holiday, but the league did not schedule a Christmas Day game starting earlier than 3:30 p.m. local time (for either participating team) from 1971 through 2021.
When Christmas Day landed on a Thursday (which last occurred in 2014) no games were scheduled even though the league normally schedules games on Thursdays. This was because it landed in Week 17, which was the final week of the season until the season was extended in 2021 (since then there was a Thursday Night game on the week of Christmas). The next time Christmas Day falls on a Thursday will be in 2025, which will be the second-to-last week of the season.[5]
The league also played rare Friday games on Christmas Day in 2009 and 2020, both of which were consideredspecial editionsofThursday Night Football.[6][7]
2020–present: Annual Christmas Day games
editThe league has staged at least one Christmas Day game each season since2020,even in years in which Christmas Day falls on a day the league typically does not play.
With December 25 again falling on a Sunday in2022,the NFL scheduled three Christmas Day games for the first time. These were the first Christmas Day games since2021when the NFL expanded from a 16-game schedule to 17 games, putting the holiday to the third-to-last week of the regular season. The 2022 Christmas Day games consisted of single contests for each Sunday network --Foxat the 1:00 p.m. ET early slot,CBSin the late game slot at 4:30 p.m. ET, andSunday Night Football.[8][9]The CBS game included an alternate, youth-oriented broadcast on sister networkNickelodeon,after having previously aired Wild Card games in such a manner.[10]
Under the NFL's next round of television deals, which began in 2023 and will run through 2033, Fox acquired the rights to air special Christmas Day games as the schedule permits. These special Christmas Day games are in addition to standard primetime games on Christmas Day (such asSunday Night FootballandMonday Night Footballin years in which Christmas Day lands on those days).[11]With December 25 landing on a Monday in2023,the league scheduled another tripleheader, once again consisting of national CBS and Fox games, along withMonday Night Football.[12]For the second consecutive season, Nickelodeon aired an alternate, youth-oriented broadcast of CBS's game.[13]
With December 25 landing on a Wednesday in2024,the league toldThe Wall Street Journalin December 2023 that it would not play games when Christmas Day falls on Tuesdays or Wednesdays.[14][15]However, on March 26, 2024, the NFL reversed course and announced that there would be two games played on Christmas in 2024, with the games streaming onNetflixnationally.[16]TheBaltimore Ravens,Houston Texans,Pittsburgh Steelers,and two-time defending Super Bowl championKansas City Chiefswere selected for these games.[17]All four teams will also play the previous Saturday to make the turnaround between games similar to that of a Sunday to Thursday night contest.
All-time results
edit1971 Divisional Round
edit| Season | Visiting team | Score | Home team | Significance | Location | TV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1971 | Dallas Cowboys | 20–12 | Minnesota Vikings | Cowboys–Vikings rivalry | Metropolitan Stadium | CBS[18] |
| Miami Dolphins | 27–24(2OT) | Kansas City Chiefs | Longest NFL game | Municipal Stadium | NBC[19] |
Regular season
editChristmas Day standings
editBy franchise (through the 2023 games)
| Team | Games played | Wins | Losses | Ties | Win % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Philadelphia Eagles | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 |
| Indianapolis Colts | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 |
| Los Angeles Chargers | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 |
| Los Angeles Rams | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 |
| New Orleans Saints | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 |
| New York Jets | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 |
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 |
| Green Bay Packers | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | .750 |
| Baltimore Ravens | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | .667 |
| Denver Broncos | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | .500 |
| Kansas City Chiefs | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | .500 |
| Miami Dolphins | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | .500 |
| Tennessee Titans | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | .500 |
| Chicago Bears | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .500 |
| Dallas Cowboys | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | .400 |
| Las Vegas Raiders | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | .333 |
| Arizona Cardinals | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | .250 |
| Minnesota Vikings | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | .250 |
| Cincinnati Bengals | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 |
| Cleveland Browns | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 |
| Houston Texans | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 |
| New York Giants | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 |
| Detroit Lions | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .000 |
| San Francisco 49ers | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .000 |
References
edit- ^Ho Ho Ho! The NFL on Christmas History
- ^"NFL Playoffs on Christmas Draw Protests Across Land".Los Angeles Times.1971-12-17.
- ^Eldridge, Larry (1971-12-22). "The football grinch who stole Christmas".The Christian Science Monitor.
- ^"1986 USFL Schedule - USFL (United States Football League)".
- ^"NFL | Official Site of the National Football League".NFL.Retrieved2024-01-26.
- ^"2020 NFL schedule includes rare Friday game as Christmas Day surprise in Week 16".CBSSports.Retrieved2022-05-12.
- ^"NFL's schedule features twists".Los Angeles Times.2009-04-15.Retrieved2022-05-12.
- ^"The NFL is reportedly planning on a Christmas Day tripleheader this year".Awful Announcing.2022-04-22.Retrieved2022-04-22.
- ^Florio, Mike (2022-04-22)."NFL plans a Christmas Day triple-header, for the first time ever".ProFootballTalk.Retrieved2022-04-22.
- ^Bromberg, Nick (May 10, 2022)."2022 NFL schedule: Rams will host Russell Wilson and Broncos as part of Christmas tripleheader".Yahoo! Sports.RetrievedMay 10,2022.
- ^"Fox Corporation Announces New Eleven-Year Media Rights Agreement with the National Football League".PR News Wire.RetrievedMarch 31,2021.
- ^"2023 NFL schedule release: Tripleheaders highlight Thanksgiving, Christmas Day slates".NFL.RetrievedMay 11,2023.
- ^Benjamin, Cody (May 11, 2023)."2023 NFL schedule release: Chiefs to headline Nickelodeon's special 'Nickmas' game on Christmas Day".CBS Sports.RetrievedAugust 16,2023.
- ^Beaton, Andrew (December 22, 2023)."The Year the NFL Stole Christmas".The Wall Street Journal.RetrievedDecember 28,2023.
- ^Florio, Mike (December 22, 2023)."NFL claims it won't schedule Christmas games when December 25 lands on a Tuesday or Wednesday".Pro Football Talk.RetrievedDecember 28,2023.
- ^"NFL to play two games on Christmas Day Wednesday in 2024".ESPN.March 26, 2024.RetrievedMarch 26,2024.
- ^"2024 NFL Christmas Games: Schedule, teams, how to watch".Fox Sports.November 25, 2024.RetrievedNovember 29,2024.
- ^"Divisional Round - Dallas Cowboys at Minnesota Vikings - December 25th, 1971".Pro-Football-Reference.Retrieved2022-06-09.
- ^"Divisional Round - Miami Dolphins at Kansas City Chiefs - December 25th, 1971".Pro-Football-Reference.Retrieved2022-06-09.
- ^"Cincinnati Bengals at Minnesota Vikings - December 25th, 1989".Pro-Football-Reference.Retrieved2022-06-09.
- ^"Houston Oilers at San Francisco 49ers - December 25th, 1993".Pro-Football-Reference.Retrieved2022-06-09.
- ^"Detroit Lions at Miami Dolphins - December 25th, 1994".Pro-Football-Reference.Retrieved2022-06-09.
- ^"Dallas Cowboys at Arizona Cardinals - December 25th, 1995".Pro-Football-Reference.Retrieved2022-06-09.
- ^"Denver Broncos at Detroit Lions - December 25th, 1999".Pro-Football-Reference.Retrieved2022-06-09.
- ^"Dallas Cowboys at Tennessee Titans - December 25th, 2000".Pro-Football-Reference.Retrieved2022-06-09.
- ^"Oakland Raiders at Kansas City Chiefs - December 25th, 2004".Pro-Football-Reference.Retrieved2022-06-09.
- ^"Denver Broncos at Tennessee Titans - December 25th, 2004".Pro-Football-Reference.Retrieved2022-06-09.
- ^"Chicago Bears at Green Bay Packers - December 25th, 2005".Pro-Football-Reference.Retrieved2022-06-09.
- ^"Minnesota Vikings at Baltimore Ravens - December 25th, 2005".Pro-Football-Reference.Retrieved2022-06-09.
- ^"Philadelphia Eagles at Dallas Cowboys - December 25th, 2006".Pro-Football-Reference.Retrieved2022-06-09.
- ^"New York Jets at Miami Dolphins - December 25th, 2006".Pro-Football-Reference.Retrieved2022-06-09.
- ^"San Diego Chargers at Tennessee Titans - December 25th, 2009".Pro-Football-Reference.Retrieved2022-06-09.
- ^"Dallas Cowboys at Arizona Cardinals - December 25th, 2010".Pro-Football-Reference.Retrieved2022-06-09.
- ^"Chicago Bears at Green Bay Packers - December 25th, 2011".Pro-Football-Reference.Retrieved2022-06-09.
- ^"Baltimore Ravens at Pittsburgh Steelers - December 25th, 2016".Pro-Football-Reference.Retrieved2022-06-09.
- ^"Denver Broncos at Kansas City Chiefs - December 25th, 2016".Pro-Football-Reference.Retrieved2022-06-09.
- ^"Pittsburgh Steelers at Houston Texans - December 25th, 2017".Pro-Football-Reference.Retrieved2022-06-09.
- ^"Oakland Raiders at Philadelphia Eagles - December 25th, 2017".Pro-Football-Reference.Retrieved2022-06-09.
- ^"Minnesota Vikings at New Orleans Saints - December 25th, 2020".Pro-Football-Reference.Retrieved2022-06-09.
- ^"Cleveland Browns at Green Bay Packers - December 25th, 2021".Pro-Football-Reference.Retrieved2022-06-09.
- ^"Indianapolis Colts at Arizona Cardinals - December 25th, 2021".Pro-Football-Reference.Retrieved2022-06-09.
- ^"Green Bay Packers at Miami Dolphins - December 25th, 2022".Pro-Football-Reference.Retrieved2022-12-26.
- ^"Denver Broncos at Los Angeles Rams - December 25th, 2022".Pro-Football-Reference.Retrieved2022-12-26.
- ^"Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Arizona Cardinals - December 25th, 2022".Pro-Football-Reference.Retrieved2022-12-26.
- ^"Las Vegas Raiders at Kansas City Chiefs - December 25th, 2023".Pro-Football-Reference.Retrieved2023-12-27.
- ^"New York Giants at Philadelphia Eagles - December 25th, 2023".Pro-Football-Reference.Retrieved2023-12-27.
- ^"Baltimore Ravens at San Francisco 49ers - December 25th, 2023".Pro-Football-Reference.Retrieved2023-12-27.