The NFL has made a surprising U-turn on its Christmas Day schedule for the 2024 season, despite previously stating it wouldn't hold a game if it fell on a Wednesday.
At a meeting of league owners, Hans Schroeder, the NFL's executive vice president of media distribution, announced that two games will indeed take place on December 25, even though it falls on a Wednesday. This decision comes after the league had suggested there would be no Christmas Day game this year, a game that is often disliked by players due to the reduced preparation time for the next match.
Schroeder explained in a statement: "From what we've seen the last couple years is really some unprecedent growth, and not just on Christmas, on Thanksgiving, too. The last couple of years have had the highest-regular season game ever viewed in the regular season. That mindset, that opportunity, that belief we have that football brings people together - that's even truer on these big holidays that happen throughout the year."
He added: "When we saw the viewership from this past year, really our fans spoke. We certainly saw and believe that they are very much enjoying and wanting NFL football on Christmas.
"So what we're going to do is we're going to play a couple of games, like we've typically played for well over a decade, probably more than that, on Saturday of Week 16, and then come back and play a couple of games on Christmas Day on Wednesday."
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The NFL has changed its tune from a few months back. Last December, Schroeder told The Athletic: "We're not looking to play football on a Tuesday or Wednesday at this point, especially this late in the year as we get close to the postseason," and added, "We want to focus on the run to the playoffs and for that competitive equity to really shine through.
"I don't think we're going to look at Tuesday or Wednesday football. We're looking at the days where we're already playing football and have the opportunity to celebrate something larger on a holiday with a lot of our fans together."
Goodell gave the thumbs up to the change but said it won't happen often. He explained: "It will not be a regular thing. It will be when Christmas falls on a Wednesday," and also mentioned, "Well, I think the days are the same for us. We've done this."
Roger Goodell's latest decision is likely to be extremely unpopular with NFL stars (Getty Images)He reflected on what they learned from COVID times, saying, "In fact, COVID was a learning opportunity. I think it was the first time we played on a Wednesday...but the time period between games has been done before."
Goodell reassured everyone about player safety, stating, "We have not seen any elevation of injuries. You all, and we, have had a major focus on Thursday night when we first put it in, and we've still not seen any kind of elevation of injuries. So I think we have this down."
Players might not enjoy playing games over the holiday period, and having a game on a Wednesday will likely impact teams in the following week. They'll have less time to rest and recover.
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