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The NBA has historically had a stranglehold on Christmas when it comes to the league that attracts the most eyeballs over the course of the holiday, but that foothold could be in jeopardy courtesy of the NFL.
While there’s no explicit agreement between those two parties, the NFL has traditionally been associated with Thanksgiving, and the NBA prides itself on the slate of notable games it attempts to schedule when Christmas rolls around each year.
The former attempted to get in on the action in the 1970s only to take a fairly lengthy hiatus after football fans expressed their displeasure with those scheduling decisions (if Christmas fell on a Sunday, it usually opted to hold the vast majority of games on Christmas Eve).
However, the NFL decided to experiment a bit in 2022 and experienced a pretty notable rise in ratings as a result. That success led to the league opting to hold yet another tripleheader, and it would appear the tides are turning at the NBA’s expense.
According to Sports Media Watch, the five NBA games that aired on Christmas in 2023 attracted an average of 2.85 million viewers, which marked a 30% decline in overall viewership compared to last year (the Celtics-Lakers game was the most watched with 5 million, although that was an 18% dip compared to the same time slot in 2022).
As the outlet notes, the NBA was unable to broadcast all five games on the schedule on ABC courtesy of the NFL, as the network opted to air the showdown between the Ravens and the 49ers (which attracted 26.7 million viewers).
The NBA will get a reprieve next year, as the NFL has already said it won’t schedule any games on Christmas if the holiday falls on Tuesday or Wednesday. With that said, you have to wonder if the league is a little bit worried about what could be in store.