NFL Makes Aggressive Move Against NBA By Scheduling Christmas Triple-Header

The NFL traditionally plays multiple games on Thanksgiving Day. Families take whatever game is on (usually a Cowboys or Lions home tilt) in between eating, drinking, and being merry. It’s an American tradition.

The NBA has a similar tradition on Christmas. The league typically schedules marquee games with big names and competitive teams and pulls in big ratings on an otherwise slow day for viewership. The NFL is now preparing to infringe on that turf.

NFP VP of broadcasting Mike North recently appeared on the SalSports….and Stuff podcast. There, he revealed the league’s plans to take on the NBA head-to-head on Christmas. The NFL is planning on a triple-header that will have ratings junkies going mad.

“We will play on Saturday night on the NFL Network on Christmas Eve and then when we get to Sunday, Christmas Day, we’ll have a tripleheader. We’ll play one game on CBS in the afternoon, one game on Fox in the afternoon and our regular Sunday night game on NBC.”

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The NFL has typically shown respect for the NBA’s Christmas spot by moving games to Saturday or Monday. There have been a handful of Christmas games in the past, and all have done well in the ratings. We will have to wait and see if this cuts out a significant chunk of the NBA’s viewership numbers.

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