According to Schroeder, there has been significant growth in recent years, not only during Christmas but also on Thanksgiving. The regular season games have seen the highest viewership ever, showcasing the power of football to bring people together especially on the major holidays throughout the year.
“When we observed the number of viewers this year, it was clear that our fans had a voice,” said Hans Schroeder, executive vice president of media distribution for the NFL. “We can see that they really enjoy and desire NFL football on Christmas.”
There are not many games that take place on Wednesdays. The latest occurrence of a Wednesday game was in 2021, due to a COVID-19 outbreak causing a postponement of the Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers Thanksgiving game until the next Wednesday.
On a Monday, there will be games between Baltimore Ravens and San Francisco 49ers, New York Giants and Philadelphia Eagles, and Las Vegas Raiders and Kansas City Chiefs.
The Christmas Day matches have garnered huge TV viewership, as ESPN’s broadcast of the Ravens-49ers game reached over 27.2 million viewers, making it the second most-watched “Monday Night Football” game since 1996.
The NFL’s commissioner, Roger Goodell, stated that Wednesday games will not become a regular occurrence and the league has not observed an increase in injuries from playing games in the middle of the week.
Field Level Media provided information for this report.
The pairings for the upcoming games, which will involve teams that played on Saturday before to allow for a rest period, have not been decided yet.
The first game in Brazil will also take place on Friday.
The NFL has announced that there will be two games played on Christmas Day in 2024, despite it being on a Wednesday. This tradition of Christmas games has consistently benefited the league.
