Roger Goodell on playing on Christmas: 'We go where the fans are'

While football has always dominated the schedule, the NFL is taking it to another level with them stepping into key dates on the calendar. Still, for Roger Goodell, that’s less about taking away from other sports and more about them being able to capitalize on an audience that’s clearly there for them.

Goodell spoke about the league’s scheduling on Christmas Day during an appearance on ‘The Pat McAfee Show’ on Friday. While that’s usually a holiday for the NBA, he noted how the ratings fan interest in them on that day. That has led the NFL, like they have with other days they’ve ventured into, to want to make it a big deal for their fanbase.

“I think we’ve looked for those opportunities where we can create an event out of it,” said Goodell. “You know, holidays? That’s what we do. Thanksgiving has been our biggest day of football for years.”

“You know, we saw it. I think we averaged 30 million people for the Christmas games over the last four or five years. So, for us, that’s where our fans are,” Goodell said. “I don’t ask permission for that. We go where the fans are. We’re going to go and we’re going to find a way to satisfy that.”

During this past holiday season, Christmas Eve fell on a Sunday. Christmas Day then came next on Monday where the league had three games on. Las Vegas upset Kansas City, Philadelphia defeated New York, and then Baltimore beat up on San Francisco. The three games averaged an audience of 28.4 million on CBS, FOX, and ESPN at 29.2 million, 29 million, and 27.1 million respectively.

As for the NBA, they had their usual five-game slate on ESPN and ABC. None of the quintet even came close, though, with them averaging 2.9 million viewers. Los Angeles vs. Boston was the most-watched on the schedule at an audience of five million. In conclusion, those numbers represented an overall decline across the board.

Now, in 2024, the NFL will be doing the same again. Goodell said it took a little more logistical work with Christmas falling in the middle of the week but that they’ve sorted it out based on how they go about a four-day stretch between games.

“It was a little more challenging this year with a Wednesday but what we’ve proven here is we can do the Sunday to Thursday with no health consequences whatsoever. The data does not show that,” Goodell said. “Wednesday-Saturday works. So we’re going to have four teams playing on Saturday. We’ll mix them up and play them again on Christmas Day.”

The numbers don’t lie, especially when they’re that staggering of a difference. That’s why, regardless of what those on the basketball court may think of it, the NFL is here to stay when it comes to Christmas Day.