Why are NFL Games Played on Christmas?

[Pelican Press 0]

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

Why are NFL Games Played on Christmas?

Highmark Stadium, home of the Buffalo Bills. Credit:

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

– CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

Football is the sport that unites America, and there is no better time to unite families and friends all over the country than on Christmas day. This year, many families will enjoy their Christmas dinner while watching the NFL, as the Kansas City Chiefs take on the Pittsburgh Steelers, and the Baltimore Ravens face the Houston Texans.

This year is the first time streaming giant

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

will stream live NFL games. They are going all in, as pop superstar Beyonce will perform the halftime show for the game between the Ravens and the Texans.

But where did this tradition come from? Is it purely commercial? or is the league trying to establish a new long-lasting tradition like the one they have established with the NFL’s marquee Thanksgiving games?

The earliest record of an NFL (near) Christmas game

Before the merger between the American Football League (AFL) and the National Football League (NFL), that would create the modern NFL as we know it, the football regular season ended in mid-December. The earliest record of a professional football game taking place around Christmas dates back to 1943, when World War II created complications that altered the sports schedule.

That year, the NFL played its Championship Game on December 26, when the Chicago Bears beat the Washington Redskins, now Commanders, 41-21.

Before the two leagues merged in 1970, the NFL season ended in mid-December, allowing for the possibility that championship games would be played on Christmas.

BEYONCÉ

NFL Halftime Show – Ravens vs Texans

Christmas Day on

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

—

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

(@

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

)

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

The league was skeptical about scheduling games on Christmas at this time, which is why they rescheduled the championship games in 1955 and 1960 because they fell on Christmas day.

The AFL took a widely different approach to the NFL, playing their championship games on New Year’s, with the time happening in 1961 instead of scheduling their championship game in mid-December.

The first modern NFL Christmas game was in 1971. It wouldn’t be played again until 1989

The NFL held its first Christmas game in 1971, following the AFL/NFL merger in 1970, which effectively established the NFL as we know it today. The league held the first two games of the Divisional Playoff Round on Christmas day during the 1971-72 season.

Two games were scheduled; the Dallas Cowboys taking on the Minnesota Vikings, and the Miami Dolphins facing the Kansas City Chiefs in the afternoon.

Notably, the Christmas game between the Cheifs and Miami would end up being the longest in NFL history. Ironically, this game was the reason why the NFL stopped scheduling Christmas day games, as the league received complaints over the game’s length causing trouble in Christmas dinners all over the country.

The league faced accusations of interfering with a religious holiday, prompting a Kansas lawmaker to propose banning NFL games on Christmas Day. This would cause the league to avoid scheduling games on December 25 for the next 17 seasons.

Christmas Day NFL football came back to screens in 1989

The league would not hold a Christmas game until 1989 when the Bengals faced the Vikings in a 9:00 pm Monday Night Football matchup. The decision to schedule the game late aimed to avoid interfering with family dinners in the country.

The next scheduling significant development would come the next year. The NFL added a bye week (which means there wouldn’t be football for a week during the regular season) in 1990, thus fitting Christmas Day permanently into the regular season.

The NFL has scheduled Christmas Day games every season since 2020. For example, in 2022, the NFL scheduled three games on the holiday, with two more coming this year.

The NFL is LIVE on

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

this Christmas! Wednesday 25 December (in case you didn’t know when Christmas was).

Chiefs vs. Steelers at 6.00pm GMT
Ravens vs. Texans at 9.30pm GMT

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

—

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

*** & Ireland (@NetflixUK)

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

#NFL #Games #Played #Christmas

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up