For a long time, professional leagues seemed to have courteous toward each other. While not explicitly stated, Thanksgiving has been the NFL’s holiday while Christmas had been the NBA’s. This was partially due to the certainty of Thanksgiving being on a Thursday while Christmas Day could be any day of the week.
For over a decade, the NBA has owned the day with five games spread out throughout. The league often ramps up to high-profile matchups later in the day.
Last year, the Cleveland Browns played the Green Bay Packers on Christmas Day and did huge ratings for the league.
In 2022, the NFL will roll out three games on Christmas Day spread out throughout the afternoon and one in primetime. NFL executive Mike North explained it quite simply:
“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.”
Given the addition of Deshaun Watson, it is possible that the Browns Week 16 game is one of the featured games on Christmas. While Watson could face a suspension, it is unlikely it would last until that late in the year.
The full NFL schedule will be released on May 12th but these three games will be announced on May 9th.
