As a huge fan of the NFL, I always thought it was neat when Christmas fell on a Saturday, Sunday or Monday, because I’d get to enjoy the best holiday of the year and my favorite sport. Since the NFL’s inception, there have been only 30 pro football games played on Christmas day. Beginning in 2020, the NFL has been scheduling at least one game on Christmas Day regardless of the day of the week it lands. With the recent announcement that the NFL would be scheduling three games in 2024 on Christmas Day, which occurs on a Wednesday, it’s clear the league sees the holiday as a huge opportunity to entertain its fanbase on my favorite holiday.
How many NFL games are played when Christmas Day lands on a Saturday, Sunday or Monday?
While the NFL has traditionally played games on Christmas when the holiday falls on a Saturday, Sunday or Monday, the number of games varies by day. If Christmas falls on a Sunday, the NFL will typically play their normal slate of games on Saturday and Christmas Eve with one of the Christmas Day games broadcast on its Sunday Night Football program. When Christmas falls on a Monday, the NFL will typically hold its normal schedule of games on Christmas Eve and Monday Night Football on Christmas night with the traditional Sunday Night Football telecast moved to either Monday afternoon or the previous Saturday night. When the holiday falls on a Sunday the NFL had traditionally held off broadcasting games prior to 5 pm eastern standard time, a tradition they broke in 2020.
When did the NFL play its first games on Christmas Day?
When professional football first started, the season was typically over by the end of November, so playing games on Christmas Day was never a “thing.” It wasn’t until the 1943 championship that a final game was even played in December, which that year was pushed to December 26 due to complications in scheduling as a result of World War II. Then in the 1950s and 1960s, when the season drifted into December, the NFL opted to avoid Christmas Day games altogether and would schedule the championship game on the Monday after the holiday.
The first NFL games played on Christmas Day actually occurred after the AFL and NFL merger, during the 1971-1972 playoffs. The first two games of the divisional playoffs were held on Christmas with the Dallas Cowboys beating the Minnesota Vikings 20-12 with their vaunted “Doomsday Defense” and quarterback Roger Staubach and the Miami Dolphins beating the Kansas City Chiefs 27-24 in two overtimes (the longest game in NFL history). Dallas ultimately went on to win the Super Bowl that year beating the Dolphins in decisive fashion 24-3.
It was the Miami-Kansas City overtime game that caused quite an uproar as many complained it ruined Christmas Day dinners across the country. Because of the controversy, the NFL decided not to schedule any games on Christmas Day for the next 17 years. That finally changed in 1989, when the NFL tried once again to play on Christmas. But to avoid interfering with Christmas dinners across the nation this time, the NFL scheduled its lone game at 9 pm as part of their regular Monday Night Football package.
Playing NFL games on Christmas after 2020
With Christmas Day falling on a Sunday in 2020 at the height of the COVID pandemic, the NFL scheduled three games for the first time on the holiday after the league expanded the regular season to 17 games. The schedule featured three single games, which were played on Fox at 1 pm, CBS at 4:30 pm and at night on the traditional Sunday Night Football game. As part of the recently negotiated NFL TV package, Fox acquired the rights to broadcast Christmas Day games moving forward. With three games being played on Christmas this year, it’s yet another reason to get excited about the holidays!
Fun Facts about the NFL and Christmas
- The Dallas Cowboys have won more games on Christmas Day, 5, than any other team.
- The San Diego Chargers scored the most points on a Christmas Day game with a 42-17 win over the Tennessee Titan in 2009.
- Only seven teams (Bills, Patriots, Jaguars, Commanders, Falcons, Panthers and Seahawks) have not played on Christmas Day.
- The 2023 Raiders – Chiefs game played on Christmas attracted 29 million viewers on CBS, the best ratings for a Christmas Day game in 34 years!
- After playing a game on Christmas Day that lasted two overtimes in 1971, a Kansas legislator attempted to sponsor a bill to ban all future NFL games on Christmas amidst a huge nation-wide uproar.
- The first NFL games ever played on Christmas Day in 1971 featured a combined 33 future Hall of Famers.
