Christmas Day falls on a Sunday this year and the NFL plans to capitalize on it. The league announced that there will be three games on Christmas for the first time: two in the afternoon on CBS and Fox, followed by a prime-time contest on NBC. NFL vice president of broadcasting Mike North revealed the tripleheader on a podcast hosted by WGR radio host and Buffalo Bills sideline reporter Sal Capaccio.
“Christmas, when it falls on an NFL game day, we’ve had a lot of success there. All due respect to our friends at the NBA. It is something that our friends are interested in,” North said. “If Christmas falls on a Sunday, it makes perfect sense.”
Firstly, will be the third consecutive year that there are NFL games on Christmas. Last year, Green Bay’s 24-22 victory over Cleveland averaged 28.6 million viewers on Fox. Making it the third-most-watched game of the 2021 regular season.
Indianapolis’ 22-16 win at Arizona averaged 12.6 million on NFL Network, the second-highest-viewed game in network history.
Christmas Day NFL Games
Secondly, in Week 16, the league will have its regular Thursday night game on Dec. 22. Eleven games will be on Dec. 24, including a night game on NFL Network. After the Christmas tripleheader, the week will close with a Monday night contest on Dec. 26.
Furthermore, this year’s Christmas games will be revealed the week of May 9. The league announced on Thursday that the complete schedule will be released on May 12. However, the first “Thursday Night Football” game on Prime Video will be unveiled during the first round of the NFL draft on April 28, and the international games on May 4.
