Lower than 4 months after saying there would not be any Christmas video games scheduled for 2024, the NFL has apparently modified its thoughts.
CBS Sports activities lead NFL insider Jonathan Jones has reported that the league is planning to schedule a Christmas sport in 2024, though the vacation is falling on a Wednesday. As a matter of reality, the league will really be scheduling a doubleheader, which suggests we’ll be getting two video games.
As just lately as December, it regarded just like the NFL was going to skip Christmas in 2024. The league’s govt vice chairman for media distribution, Hans Schroeder, had mentioned that taking part in on a Tuesday or Wednesday did not make a lot sense for the league.
“We’re not trying to play soccer on a Tuesday or Wednesday at this level, particularly this late within the 12 months as we get near the postseason,” Schroeder instructed The Athletic again in December. “We wish to concentrate on the run to the playoffs and for that aggressive fairness to essentially shine via. I do not suppose we will have a look at Tuesday or Wednesday soccer.”
On one hand, the NFL’s choice to play a Wednesday sport is considerably stunning, if solely as a result of the league has typically averted scheduling video games for that day of the week. The Christmas sport would mark simply the third time in 75 years that the NFL has performed a Wednesday sport and simply the second time in 75 years that league really put a Wednesday sport on the schedule.
Commissioner Roger Goodell mentioned taking part in Wednesday soccer shouldn’t be one thing that we’ll see all that extra of sooner or later. “It is not going to be an everyday factor,” Goodell mentioned, in line with Professional Soccer Discuss. “It will likely be when Christmas falls on a Wednesday.”
Since 1949, the one scheduled Wednesday sport got here in 2012 when the Giants performed host to the Cowboys in Week 1 to open the season. The opening sport of the 12 months is usually performed on Thursday, however the NFL moved it to Wednesday to keep away from a battle with the Democratic Nationwide Conference.
The one different Wednesday sport got here in 2020 when a Ravens-Steelers matchup needed to be moved to Wednesday as a result of COVID points.
The Wednesday doubleheader will mark the primary time since 1936 that the NFL has scheduled two video games on a Wednesday, in line with Professional Soccer Reference.
In fact, we most likely should not be shocked in any respect that the NFL modified its thoughts about Christmas this 12 months and that is as a result of the vacation has been a extremely profitable one for the league. The NFL scheduled a tripleheader in 2023 and people three video games averaged 28.7 million viewers, which is an astronomical quantity. All three video games ranked within the high 10 for the most-watched regular-season video games in 2023.
To make the Wednesday video games occur, the groups that play on Christmas will play on Saturday in Week 16 (Dec. 21) after which flip round and play the Christmas sport in Week 17, in line with the Wall Road Journal.
The NFL has been taking part in regular-season video games on Christmas since 1989, however the league did not begin doing it yearly till 2020. This may mark the fifth straight 12 months that the NFL has held a Christmas sport. Earlier than 2020, the NFL had by no means gone greater than three straight years with a Christmas sport.