The latest installment of the game of the year, Ravens at 49ers, attracted an average audience of 27.2 million on Christmas night. A less impactful game made an even bigger impact earlier in the day.
CBS announced that 29 million tuned in for Raiders-Chiefs, the 1:00 p.m. ET Christmas game.
It was, per the release, the biggest audience for a Christmas game since 1989. That year, the Vikings hosted the Bengals on a Monday night in Minneapolis.
The numbers generated by the two games played on Christmas Day will only increase the chances of the NFL finding a way to serve up games on Christmas next year, when December 25 falls on a Wednesday. Although the league office has said it won’t play games when the holiday lands on a Tuesday or a Wednesday, the league’s broader business interests will make it difficult to surrender the captive audience of Christmas to the NBA.
The last piece of the 2023 Christmas puzzle is the late-afternoon game between the Giants and the Eagles. Fox has yet to disclose the numbers. Whatever they are, Christmas and football have become as solid of a fit as Thanksgiving and football.
It would be a surprise if the owners don’t instruct the powers-that-be to come up with a way for the league to continue its show of force on a day that now features three standalone games that are attracting massive viewership from folks sitting around the tree, regardless of whether Christmas lands on a day when the NFL ordinarily doesn’t play games.
