If you look at the sports calendar this week, you will notice a busy slate for Christmas Day and almost nothing scheduled for Christmas Eve.
For a long time, the NBA maintained almost full control of live TV programming on the holiday. It is still widely considered an honor for your NBA team to play in one of the marque games on December 25.
But a few years ago, the NFL joined the party and wanted some of that attention as well. These days, there are multiple football games played on Christmas Day.
It is a really big deal for Netflix to have the streaming rights, and it will potentially take some eyes away from basketball played on ABC and ESPN.
The NBA missed an opportunity to showcase some marquee games on Christmas Eve. The league could have had the entire day to itself. They’ve got to creative in the football era we’re in —and this would have been a perfect opportunity to have good games all day with families at home
— Nick Friedell (@NickFriedell) December 24, 2024
The NBA had record low ratings on Christmas Day in 2023 as the NFL dominated viewership last year. It is a continued clash of power between the leagues and its broadcasting partners. With the NFL likely the victor again in 2024, the NBA could have made an interesting decision.
They could have made a bold move and scheduled some games and had the sole spotlight on Christmas Eve.
With five games and 10 teams scheduled throughout the day on Wednesday, that still leaves two-thirds of the league who…
