NFL Auctioning Christmas Day Games To Highest Bidder, Putting Streaming In Play
Despite Christmas Day falling on a Wednesday in 2024, the NFL plans to play two regular season games to capitalize on a potentially massive audience. The Christmas Day triple-header in 2023 was a massive success, and the league doesn't want to give that up.
The NFL drew at least 27 million viewers for all three Christmas Day games last year.
The NBA used to dominate Christmas Day, as it was the biggest non-playoffs day of the year for the league. But the NFL is king, and it has told the NBA to step aside.
The question then becomes: who gets to broadcast these potentially money-making contests played on the most important holiday on the American calendar. Last year, FOX and CBS each carried one Christmas Day game in the afternoon and ESPN got the night game as part of its Monday Night Football package.
NFL plans to play a Christmas Day doubleheader and auction the rights off to the highest bidder, making streaming services most likely.
(USA Today Sports)
Obviously, the NFL doesn't have a Wednesday Night Football deal with anyone because the league almost never plays games on Wednesdays. So, the two Christmas Day games this season are seemingly up-for-grabs.
A report from Front Office Sports suggests that the league is willing to listen to all potential suitors – likely choosing the one willing to write the largest check.
As we've learned from the most recent instances, the entities most willing to cut huge checks for live sports are streaming services. Amazon bought the rights to Thursday Night Football. Peacock paid nine-figures for one regular-season game and one playoff game last season.
As OutKick's Amber Harding can attest, fans hate having to sign up for streaming services to watch NFL games. But they do it anyway.
A recent study showed that a large percentage of the fans who signed up for Peacock to watch last year's playoff matchup between the Miami Dolphins and Kansas City Chiefs still subscribe to the service three months later.
Peacock exclusively aired an NFL playoff game between the Miami Dolphins and Kansas City Chiefs.
(USA Today Network)
That's a massive win for the service. Most people theorized that fans would purchase the service and then cancel it after the NFL season ended. But that didn't happen.
Other streaming services are likely to look at this study and go all-out to get one or both of the Christmas Day games, which figure to be some of the most coveted games this entire NFL regular season.
So, get ready to argue with your family members about who's going to set up the living room TV on Christmas Day, including purchasing a streaming service subscription. Everyone will gripe about it – but they'll still watch. And the NFL knows it.