Adam Silver rejects Pat McAfee’s suggestion that NBA give up Christmas Day to NFL

For as long as most fans can remember, Christmas Day has been dominated by the NBA.

But in recent years, in its tireless quest for attention and money, the NFL has begun scheduling games on Christmas — even when the holiday does not land on a traditional NFL game day. Last season, in partnership with Netflix, the NFL played a Christmas Day doubleheader on a Wednesday. Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes even played on short rest while nursing an ankle injury just to be on the field.

In the end, Netflix’s broadcasts each averaged around 24 million viewers, while the NBA peaked with 8.3 million viewers in the fourth quarter of an instant classic between the Lakers and Warriors.

As always, it is and apples-to-oranges dynamic when comparing the NBA to the NFL. But these trends were enough for ESPN host Pat McAfee to ask commissioner Adam Silver whether the NBA might eventually shift away from Christmas Day to Christmas Eve in order to stake out its own day on the holiday calendar once again.

“The NFL has joined us,” Silver laughed. “We have more competition.”

When McAfee reiterated his suggestion, Silver demurred.

“I don’t know. No plan to do it at the moment,” the commissioner said of a move to Christmas Eve.

The NBA is in an interesting situation. The 2024 numbers were far too strong to make a move now, and it makes sense to see how a new media environment around the sport could help. ESPN and ABC exclusively air the five-game slate on Christmas, and can now bring the Disney+ and ESPN app audience to the table.

However, the NFL is not slowing down. Because Christmas falls on a more traditional Thursday this year, Prime Video and Netflix will combine to air three great matchups this Christmas.

Moving from Christmas to Christmas Eve would likely feel like admitting defeat, even if it is admittedly wide-open on the sports calendar.