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NFL ratings dominate Christmas viewership over NBA's slate of games

ayrton ostly, usa today
·3 min read
Dec 25, 2023; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce (87) runs with the ball against Las Vegas Raiders cornerback Nate Hobbs (39) during the first half at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium.
Dec 25, 2023; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce (87) runs with the ball against Las Vegas Raiders cornerback Nate Hobbs (39) during the first half at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium.

For the fourth year in a row, the NFL had at least one game on Christmas Day. This year marked the second in a row with three games across three networks, the most games on the holiday in the NFL's 19 years of Christmas Day games. The NBA, which has a long tradition of Christmas games dating back to 1947, also had a full slate of matchups.

Viewership numbers via Front Office Sports show it wasn't a close fight for viewers on Christmas between the two leagues. The NFL had one of its best days for viewership of the season while the NBA saw a decline in viewership compared to 2022 in most of the games.

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NFL Christmas Day viewership

The NFL's three games started with the Las Vegas Raiders taking on the Kansas City Chiefs on CBS. The network reported an average audience of 29.2 million viewers for that matchup, making it the most-watched Christmas Day NFL regular season game.

Here's how the other games fared:

ESPN's broadcast of 49ers-Ravens was the second-most-watched Monday Night Football game of the last 27 years. The only game higher was the Super Bowl LVII rematch in Week 11 between the Chiefs and Eagles, which finished at 29 million viewers.

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NBA Christmas Day viewership

The NBA had a five-game lineup for Christmas Day, including the defending champion Denver Nuggets and league-leading Boston Celtics. All five matchups were broadcast on ESPN with two also airing on ABC. Here's how they fared:

Those five games saw a decline from 2022, with the biggest drop coming in Heat-76ers. That time slot last year managed 4.75 million viewers across ABC and ESPN to watch the Memphis Grizzles and Warriors, 73% higher than the slot this season.

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Unlike last season, the NBA wasn't able to simulcast all of the games on ABC and ESPN. In 2022, all five were simulcast across networks compared to just two this year.

The NFL also scheduled marquee or rivalry matchups on Christmas Day. In 2022, the Los Angeles Rams' blowout win over the Denver Broncos and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' overtime victory over the Arizona Cardinals weren't exciting draws for viewers in the afternoon and evening, respectively. By contrast, the 2023 slate featured both of last season's Super Bowl teams playing rivalry games as well as a matchup between the best teams in each conference. A better slate by the NFL likely played a role in declining viewership this Christmas Day for the NBA.

Though it's a considerable drop, these were some of the most-watched NBA games of the season so far. Celtics-Lakers broke the viewership high of the In-Season Tournament final between the Lakers and Indiana Pacers that came in at 4.58 million viewers.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NFL dominates NBA in Christmas ratings