Afternoon Edition
POWERED BY
The NBA has aired Christmas games since 1947, becoming inextricably linked with the holiday. The NFL, however, has invaded its turf, playing on five consecutive years, and now doubling down with two Wednesday games streamed exclusively on Netflix. And while superstars like LeBron James insist Christmas is still “our day,” the numbers indicate otherwise—even as the NBA appears to have gained ground from last year.
— Colin Salao, Meredith Turits, and Or Moyal
Troy Taormina-Imagn Images
LeBron James is a huge NFL fan. He often tweets about his hometown Browns as well as the Cowboys, and even used to post his predictions for NFL games on Instagram. But following the Lakers’ last-second win over the Warriors on Christmas Day, James made sure to highlight the NBA.
“I love the NFL, but Christmas is our day,” James said.
The NFL callout on national TV showed that James—who, despite being four days away from turning 40, is still basketball’s biggest draw—is hyperaware that his league is losing its hold on Christmas. The NBA has played Christmas Day games nearly every year since 1947, while the NFL had only sporadically scheduled games on the holiday. But over the last five years, football has become a Christmas staple, and it does not look like it’s going away.
In 2022, the NFL had a tripleheader on Christmas for the first time. They did it again last year, and the NBA’s viewership average for its five-game Christmas slate dropped to a record-low 2.85 million viewers. Christmas fell on a Wednesday this year, but the NFL tweaked its schedule to accommodate two games.
Ratings have yet to be released, but history shows that comparing NBA and NFL viewership will likely show the latter’s dominance. Comparing viewership may not be the fairest barometer, specifically in the U.S., where an NFL game will draw over 10 million viewers on any given Sunday, while nowadays, the NBA only breaches that mark during the Finals. But partnering with Netflix also allowed the NFL to target one of the NBA’s biggest strengths: An international audience. The two NFL games were available to the nearly 283 million global Netflix subscribers.
A league’s cultural attachment to the holiday also drives its relevance—and the NFL pulled out all the stops with its $150 million Netflix partnership that included a star-studded broadcast and studio crew, as well as a halftime show from Beyoncé which could start a Christmas Day trend akin to Super Bowl performances.
There is initial data to showcase the NFL’s Christmas Day success. The Chiefs–Steelers contest surpassed the concurrent viewership of any Christmas Day game over the last four years, according to Netflix. The streamer’s social media page alone amassed 54.34 million views and 24.69 million engagements for its Christmas slate, according to Mondo Metrics. Netflix also avoided major buffering issues that plagued its stream of the Tyson–Paul fight, which still managed to draw record ratings.
The NBA did come away with the more entertaining games on Wednesday, as all five were decided by ten points or less, while the two NFL games ended in blowouts. Early ratings data from Puck’s John Ourand shows the NBA also saw double-digit percent increases during its first, fourth, and fifth games of the day. The first game started before the NFL’s first stream, while the last two games followed the Netflix doubleheader. In addition, all games were simulcast on ABC this year, which was not the case in 2023.
The NBA announced on Thursday afternoon that Christmas ratings were up 83% from last year, a huge jump that has to be seen as a win for the league. The Lakers and Warriors led the way with 7.76 million on average, which the league said was the largest Christmas audience for any game in five years. The strong day could be helpful for the NBA in reigniting its viewership, a topic that has been a stain on the first quarter of the season.
But as far as Christmas is concerned, following the NFL’s successful first year with Netflix, the NBA has to, at the very least, get used to sharing the holiday with football.
SPONSORED BY BLUE TRITON
Elevate your hydration game with the beautifully refreshing, crisp taste of Saratoga Water sparkling or still delivered straight to your door with ReadyRefresh. Now is the perfect time to stock up – use promo code RRFOS for exclusive savings on your first order! With ReadyRefresh, convenient home delivery makes it easier than ever to keep your water stocked and your hydration on point in your home or office.
Don’t miss out – hydrate with the best! Use promo code RRFOS today and enjoy special savings.
Barry Reeger-Imagn Images
Andy Reid trotted into the Chiefs locker room following their Christmas Day win in a Santa outfit and announced his present to the roster: home-field advantage throughout the AFC Championship Game.
Kansas City clinched the AFC’s top seed following a blowout win over the Steelers during the opening game of Netflix’s Christmas Day doubleheader Wednesday. But Reid may have another gift for the team chasing the NFL’s first threepeat in the Super Bowl era: He has the opportunity to give his starters nearly a month off.
The Chiefs face the Broncos in Week 18, but with the top seed already clinched, Reid can choose to rest his starters. History shows that Reid prioritizes rest when his team has secured its playoff spot—he’s rested his starters on the final week of the season four times since joining Kansas City in 2013. That includes his starting quarterback: Alex Smith in 2013 and 2017, and Patrick Mahomes in 2020 and last season.
Because the Chiefs will have a bye in the Wild Card Round, the next game for their starters would be in the Divisional Round, which is scheduled for the January 18–19 weekend. That means Kansas City could have as many as 25 days off before they begin their playoff run.
In 2020, Kansas City had 21 days between games after resting in the final week and their first-round bye. They would ultimately lose to Tom Brady and the Buccaneers in the Super Bowl that year.
The rest gives the Chiefs a reprieve after playing three games in 11 days for the first time in franchise history. The NFL has adjusted its schedule this season—adding Christmas Day games on a Wednesday and a Black Friday game for the second time—and Kansas City has played a game on six different days of the week, with Tuesday being the sole outlier.
Before this last 11-day stretch, Mahomes said it was “not a good feeling” to play the cramped schedule—though the Chiefs would end up sweeping the three-game gauntlet.
Kansas City has been the NFL’s viewership darling this season, overthrowing the Cowboys as the biggest draw. While the league’s numbers may see a dip without Mahomes and Travis Kelce on national TV in Week 18 and the Wild Card Round, a deep playoff run will likely make up for their absence—especially with another potential Bills-Chiefs rivalry match on the horizon.
TNT
When the puck drops in Chicago on New Year’s Eve, TNT is hoping for a visually stunning night that’ll pay dividends as it barrels toward its post-NBA era.
Inside the ivy-covered walls of Wrigley Field, the network will be broadcasting its fourth NHL Winter Classic, the outdoor regular-season game that this year will feature the hometown Blackhawks against the Blues. It’s the first time the event has returned to Wrigley since 2009.
It’s also the first year the Winter Classic organizers have pivoted from the traditional New Year’s Day scheduling, due in no small part to competition from the six college football bowl games. This year’s game will slot into a Dec. 31 broadcast date with a 4 p.m. local start time.
At a press event earlier this month, NHL president of content and events Steve Mayer said they’ll likely give New Year’s Eve a shot for the next few years.
The league and network both hope a clearer broadcasting window will mean more eyes. Since acquiring NHL media rights from NBC in 2021, Warner Bros. Discovery has yet to surpass two million viewers for the Winter Classic, and the Jan. 1, 2024, matchup between the Seattle Kraken and Vegas Golden Knights averaged 1.1 million viewers on TNT and truTV, an all-time low for the event that started in 2008.
The date change also could be advantageous for an event trying to bill itself as entertainment as much as sporting event. “I would argue it becomes a little bit of a larger celebration on New Year’s Eve,” WBD Sports EVP and chief content officer Craig Barry tells Front Office Sports.
Indeed, a key piece of boosting those numbers will be courting the casual fan whom the network hopes to convert into a regular viewer. Hockey is a cult sport, and its die-hard followers already see games across the league as appointment viewing. But roping in the occasional viewer is where the challenge—and growth opportunity—remains.
As the “pinnacle of hockey celebration,” Barry says the Winter Classic is part of capturing those irregular viewers, as the network will produce the event with an eye toward a wider audience. They’re investing in new production elements, including wireless player mics and cameras that “will bring the fan closer to the sheet.” If all goes right, the tech could help carve a path of accessibility into a whiplash-fast sport (and one some people say they simply can’t follow on TV). On Max, they’ll also air an ASL alt-cast, a format they tested for the first time during this year’s Stanley Cup playoffs.
TNT has increasingly made hockey a portfolio priority since 2021, and this year saw particularly strong returns with the Stanley Cup playoffs. Combined with additional games on ESPN, the league’s overall viewership is growing, creeping closer toward the NHL’s best season in 2015–2016. But TNT has not seen consistent hockey-stick growth with the sport overall, and season-to-date, the network tells FOS viewership is down 24% versus last year.
This month’s Winter Classic will be a key moment for TNT, which is in a state of transition after losing rights to the NBA earlier this year. “It’s a major tentpole in our portfolio,” says Barry. “It is arguably like All-Star weekend for NBA. … This is how we treat it for the NHL, like it’s a massive celebration. And unlike All-Star weekend, it’s actually highly competitive, and from a fan standpoint, and it has a certain amount of urgency and stakes connected to it.”
In its growth strategy, it’s taking a page from its own playbook with a personality-driven in-studio programming strategy that mimics the beloved Inside the NBA. “We’re able to sprinkle that same DNA on hockey,” Barry tells FOS.
The profile of NHL on TNT has grown due in large part to the crew that includes Paul Bissonnette, Wayne Gretzy, Anson Carter, Liam McHugh, and Henrik Lundqvist. Barry says the hockey studio show has many of the “intangibles” that made Inside the NBA so successful, both in terms of personalities and an off-the-cuff approach to commentary. In the past month, fans have increasingly passed around clips of Bissonnette sparring with Bruins forward Brad Marchand, an ongoing banter that’s turned into social media gold.
Morgan Weinbrecht Thomas, the studio director behind NHL on TNT, came up as an AD under Inside the NBA producer Tim Kiely. She tells FOS the hockey show’s approach has the same “fabric and fiber” of Inside the NBA—the broadcast has a personality in its own right. “It’s just these moments of life. Things that you didn’t stage, things that you didn’t try to force happen,” she says. “It isn’t that we were trying to manufacture something or edit anything. It just arrives.”
Wrigley Field’s iconic setting—one that the NHL has worked hard to enhance for television this year—could prove ideal for the Winter Classic. “You could put a cellphone out on Wrigley and have iconic shots because it’s Wrigley,” Thomas says.
TNT will use both the interior and exterior of the stadium in its broadcast—expect to see Darren Pang inside the Wrigley scoreboard, and Jackie Redmond on the rooftops overlooking the field. Thomas says they’ll also bring in augmented-reality elements to their drones and super cam for both the studio show and game itself. TNT will cover the auxiliary events outside, including the pregame Smashing Pumpkins show, plus a 60-minute walkup show on iconic Gallagher Way. It’s the first time they’ll be outside the venue, says Barry. “We want to make sure we’re leaning in to Wrigley as a character of this event.”
If all goes well, TNT believes its production will be magnetic enough to keep eyes on a game that will feature two of the league’s weakest teams, both of which have already fired their coaches this year. Host Chicago has one of the worst records in the NHL, and star Connor Bedard hasn’t barreled out of the gate at the Calder Trophy–winning pace he did last year—two elements that TNT says have suppressed this season’s viewership thus far.
The unimpressive records of the teams likely won’t dim appeal if the studio crew can nail the broadcast inside the venue and out. Bedard, who is no stranger to TNT’s studio show, will still play a key role; both Thomas and Barry say Bissonnette’s close ties with the forward will be central to the programming. (Thomas adds their relationship runs deep outside of hockey; Bissonnette and Bedard recently hiked a mountain together this summer, just for fun.)
Among the characters on and off the ice, perhaps TNT has figured out the alchemy to make the Winter Classic appointment viewing for all.
SPONSORED BY VERIZON
The digital age demands connectivity that keeps up with fans’ expectations. In our latest white paper, The Connectivity Blueprint, we explore how Verizon and HPE Aruba Networking are transforming live events with cutting-edge solutions. From seamless Wi-Fi and cellular integration to real-time data analytics and personalized experiences, this partnership is setting new standards for fan engagement, venue operations, and revenue growth.
Discover how this game-changing collaboration is powering the next era of sports and entertainment experiences.
Read the full white paper.
Thomas Shea-Imagn Images
⬆Lamar Jackson The Ravens quarterback broke Michael Vick’s all-time record for QB rushing yards (6,109) on Christmas. Jackson is only 27 and has plenty of time to put the record further out of reach. Merely two years ago, Jackson requested a trade from Baltimore after being frustrated by the team’s contract offers. He eventually signed a five-year, $260 million deal with the Ravens and is now contending for his third career MVP award.
⬇ Manchester City The reigning Premier League champions have won only one of their last 13 matches after a draw with Everton. The club has continued to set revenue records, but playing far below its talent and salary commitments. It also faces stiff punishments, including potential relegation, over breaking EPL financial fair-play rules.
⬆ Adidas The sportswear retailer stopped supplying the NBA with uniforms in 2017, but stays involved in the sport through brand ambassadors like Anthony Edwards and Donovan Mitchell. Yesterday, it got in on Christmas basketball discourse by echoing LeBron James’ nostalgia for Christmas uniforms of a bygone era and flexing on competitor Nike, tweeting: ‘the day was great but better when we had these.’
⬇ Mavericks Dallas lost its game against Minnesota on Christmas, but the bigger loss is Luka Dončić, who left the game with a calf injury. ESPN reports the superstar could miss ‘an extended period of time.’ The defending Western Conference champions are off to a 19-11 start but could struggle without their best and highest-paid player.
If this email was forwarded to you, you can subscribe here.
Copyright © 2024 Front Office Sports. All rights reserved.
460 Park Avenue South, 7th Floor, New York NY, 10016
Subscribe To Our Daily Newsletters
