The history of NFL Christmas games — and who’s playing this year
The NFL is gifting fans an afternoon and evening full of football this Christmas. A triple-header of games is set to be played on Christmas Day.
Football has long been part of Thanksgiving traditions, but the same can’t be said for Christmas.
Not counting the 2023 season, the NFL has played just 27 games on Christmas, according to The Athletic. But this year will be the fourth-consecutive Christmas featuring an NFL game and will increase the total of Christmas games to 30.
Here’s a look at the NFL’s history of Christmas games.
When was the first NFL game played on Christmas?
With Christmas falling on a Saturday in 1971, the NFL decided to play its first Christmas games that season, almost four decades after the NFL played its first Thanksgiving game, according to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
What teams played in the NFL’s first Christmas games?
In 1971, the Dallas Cowboys, Minnesota Vikings, Kansas City Chiefs and Miami Dolphins played in the first NFL Christmas games. Because the NFL season was only 14 weeks at the time, the two Christmas games were divisional round playoff games.
Why doesn’t the NFL play every Christmas?
The NFL’s first Christmas games didn’t have the reception the league hoped for. The divisional matchup between the Chiefs and Dolphins became the longest game in NFL history, according to USA Today.
The game went into double overtime and lasted 82 minutes and 40 seconds of game time, postponing the Christmas festivities of Americans tuned in across the country.
The NFL waited 18 years before playing on Christmas again, and it’s not because Christmas didn’t fall on a Saturday or Sunday during that gap. The league actively avoided Christmas when scheduling its games.
In 1977, 1983 and 1988, Christmas fell on a Sunday, and the NFL elected to play its divisional playoff games on Saturday and Monday to avoid conflicting with its viewers’ holiday plans, according to The Athletic.
The number of games played on Christmas has increased since Roger Goodell became commissioner in 2006. The NFL has played 15 of its 27 Christmas games between 2006 and 2022.
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What NFL games are on Christmas in 2023?
This year, Christmas Eve falls on a Sunday, and the NFL will have its normal Sunday football slate. Then, three games will be played on Christmas Day in 2023.
The following games will be played on Christmas Day 2023:
Las Vegas Raiders vs. Kansas City Chiefs at 11 a.m. MST on CBS and Nickelodeon.
New York Giants vs. Philadelphia Eagles at 2:30 p.m MST on FOX.
Baltimore Ravens vs. San Francisco 49ers at 6:15 p.m. MST on ABC.
Will the NFL play on Christmas in 2024?
In 2024, Christmas falls on a Wednesday, a weekday the NFL doesn’t usually occupy. Football fans shouldn’t expect a Christmas game in 2024, the NFL’s executive vice president for media distribution, Hans Schroeder, told The Athletic.
“I don’t think we’re going to look at Tuesday or Wednesday football,” he said. “We’re looking at the days where we’re already playing football and have the opportunity to celebrate something larger on a holiday with a lot of our fans together.”
