For countless years, the NFL and the NBA have produced exceptional games, entertaining sports fans worldwide while they celebrate Christmas. Lakers forward LeBron James raised the question: Does the NFL or the NBA have a better history of Christmas games? Does the NFL or the NBA “own” Christmas?
Following a close win (115-113) against the Golden State Warriors, where Lakers Forward Lebron James put up a 31-point performance, James was interviewed by Lisa Salters. Lebron ended the interview with a controversial statement: “I love the NFL! I love the NFL, but Christmas is our day,” raising the often undiscussed and controversial question of which sport is more commonly watched and enjoyed on Christmas.
For the NFL, scheduled Christmas Day games have been a newfound tradition. Until 2020, the NFL would only have a Christmas Day match if it fell on the usual game days—Sunday, Monday, or Thursday. The first Christmas games in the NFL were in 1971 when Christmas fell on a Saturday. Due to the 15-game schedule, these two Saturday games were divisional-round playoff games. First, the Dallas Cowboys and the Minnesota Vikings faced off on CBS, with the Cowboys winning the first NFL Christmas game, 20-12. Then came the longest game in NFL history, a shootout between the Miami Dolphins and the Kansas City Chiefs. The Miami Dolphins prevailed after two overtimes. Their wins in these matches and the Championship round brought them to the Superbowl, which the Cowboys won 24-3.
The NFL has never prioritized Christmas Day games. Until 1995, Christmas Day games in the NFL were decided by an average of 5.8 points, the first blowout occurring between the Cowboys and Cardinals, with the home team Cardinals losing 37-13. Since then, the average Christmas Day game was decided by almost two touchdowns (13.87 points), and the longest drought of no Christmas Day games was five years (2011-16). Although the Christmas Day games for 2024 were not thrillers, and more on the blowout side of the spectrum, the NFL set a new high in 2024. The two games shattered viewership expectations and records with their first Netflix live NFL game on Christmas, including a halftime show appearance by famous singer/songwriter Beyonce. This may just be a one-time happening, but this gives hope to NFL owners and viewers for years to come during this special day.
Unlike the NFL, the NBA has purposefully scheduled Christmas Day games. The first game dates back to 1947, when the Baltimore Bullets took down the Chicago Stags 87-70. Since the inaugural Christmas Day game, the NBA has recorded over 350+ Christmas games across seven different broadcasting networks.
Some of the more commonly chosen matchups on Christmas Day include the New York Knicks and the Philadelphia 76ers, who played from 1953-2022. The Knicks hold the lead in the series, with an 8-5 record in 13 matchups. Others include the 76ers and the Wizards, who collected six matchups in 21 years, spanning from 1967-1988. However, the two have not met on Christmas day since 1988.
Contrary to the NFL, the NBA has had a plethora of memorable games played on the 25th. In the 1986-87 NBA season, Patrick Ewing took down Micheal Jordan and the Chicago Bulls on a last-second jump shot, winning 86-85. The year before, he led the New York Knicks to a 25-point comeback versus the defending Eastern Conference champions, winning 113-104 in two overtimes.
The NBA’s 2024 Christmas Day schedule was thrilling, five scheduled games for the 25th saw an average score deficit of 5 points. In my opinion, the NBA’s strategy and analytics team did an excellent job of creating the schedule for Christmas Day. We saw Lebron James and the Lakers face off against Stephen Curry and the Warriors, reigniting memories from the Cavaliers and Warriors championships and memorable matchups. The excitement of the match was never in doubt, as with just 7.1 seconds left in the game, Stephen Curry drained a 31-foot three-pointer to tie the game at 113. The shot also received the highly touted “double bang” from longtime commentator Mike Breen. The Warriors’ excitement would not last long, as Lakers guard Austin Reaves sunk a driving go-ahead layup to take the lead with a single second left on the game clock.
On top of the memorable performance between the Lakers and Warriors, we saw the injury-riddled Philadelphia 76ers upset the defending NBA Champion Boston Celtics, as well as a rematch of the 2023 Western Conference Finals between the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Dallas Mavericks. The Timberwolves flipped the script and won the Rematch 105-99. We also saw the Phoenix Suns’ first Christmas Day win since 2009.
Similar to the NFL, the NBA had an extremely successful Christmas Day, as they saw a large spike in viewership during Christmas Day 2024, marking viewership records that will stand for years to come. I believe that both NFL and NBA fans should be excited for the upcoming Christmas games in 2025, and remember some of the records that were broken and the incredible plays that were made this Christmas. But if you were to ask my opinion on the question, I would say that due to the elongated history, memorable moments, and overall aspects of the Christmas Day games, the NBA “owns” Christmas.
