Minimize
You are here:   Blog Description
  |  Login

Minimize

Minimize

NFL to play 2 games on Christmas Wednesday

Mar
26
3/26/2024 6:27:55 PM
| More

NFL games on Christmas Day remain the gifts that keep on giving for the league, and that will continue in 2024 with two matchups despite the holiday falling on a Wednesday, ESPN reports.

Matchups for the games, which will include teams that play on the previous Saturday to account for the recovery window, have yet to be determined.

"When we saw the viewership from this past year, really our fans spoke," NFL executive vice president of media distribution Hans Schroeder said. "We certainly saw and believe that they are very much enjoying and wanting NFL football on Christmas."

The NFL played three games on Christmas Day 2023, with the Baltimore Ravens-San Francisco 49ers, New York Giants-Philadelphia Eagles and Las Vegas Raiders-Kansas City Chiefs matchups all being played on a Monday.

The Christmas Day games have generated massive television ratings, with ESPN's Ravens-49ers telecast having more than 27.2 million viewers, making it the second most-watched "Monday Night Football" game since 1996.

"From what we've seen the last couple years is really some unprecedented growth, and not just on Christmas, on Thanksgiving, too," Schroeder said. "The last couple of years have had the highest-regular season game ever viewed in the regular season. That mindset, that opportunity, that belief we have that football brings people together -- that's even truer on these big holidays that happen throughout the year."

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said games on Wednesdays "will not be a regular thing" and that the league has not seen an elevation of injuries from playing mid-week games.

"Well, I think the days are the same for us. We've done this," Goodell said of the four-day window that will be similar to teams playing on a Thursday after having played the previous Sunday. "In fact, COVID was a learning opportunity. I think it was the first time we played on a Wednesday ... but the time period between games has been done before.

"We have not seen any elevation of injuries. You all, and we, have had a major focus on Thursday night when we first put it in, and we've still not seen any kind of elevation of injuries. So I think we have this down."

Don't forget to follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/theredzoneorg 
      
Don't forget to follow us on Threads at https://www.threads.net/@theredzoneorg 
        
Like us on Facebook at http://facebook.com/Theredzone.org


Comments
You must register and be logged in to comment

Minimize