The latest installment of this year’s game, Ravens vs. 49ers, drew an average audience of 27.2 million on Christmas night. A game that didn’t have much of an impact had an even bigger impact earlier in the day.
CBS announced that 29 million people watched the Raiders vs. Chiefs Christmas game at 1 p.m. ET.
The game had the largest crowd for a Christmas game since 1989, according to the release. That year, the Vikings hosted the Bengals on Monday night in Minneapolis.
Given the numbers from the two games played on Christmas Day, it only becomes more likely that the NFL will find a way to offer a service game next Christmas, when Dec. 25 falls on a Wednesday. The league office has announced there will be no games if the holiday falls on Tuesday or Wednesday, but the league’s broader business interests will make it difficult to hand over the Christmas crowd to the NBA. right.
The final piece of the 2023 Christmas puzzle is a late afternoon game between the Giants and Eagles. Fox has not yet released those numbers. Whatever it is, Christmas and football fit together just as tightly as Thanksgiving and football.
I’d be surprised if the owners didn’t tell those in power to come up with a way for the league to stay strong on a day when three separate games are being held and drawing a lot of viewers from the sit-downs. It’s the right thing to do. Whether Christmas falls on a day the NFL doesn’t normally play games or not, we’ll get around the tree.