Christmas Day offered a variety of gifts for sports fans to unwrap.
THE NBA has long dominated Christmas, just like thanksgiving has become synonymous with football, but viewers got the best of both worlds on Wednesday with a NFL doubleheader And five NBA games. With so many viewing options to choose from — the more the merrier, right? — it was clear that someone was going to get the cold shoulder.
“I love the NFL. But Christmas is our day,” Los Angeles superstar LeBron James said after the Thrilling Lakers 115-113 win over Golden State Warriors.
Here’s what the Christmas Day viewing figures show:
Netflix’s NFL doubleheader the ‘most streamed NFL game’ of all time
Netflix’s Christmas Day NFL doubleheader, featuring the Victory for the Kansas Chiefs against the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Baltimore Ravens blowout against Houston Texansattracted approximately 65 million viewers across the country, the streaming platform said in a statement, citing Nielsen.
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The Chiefs-Steelers broadcast drew an average audience of more than 24 million viewers, while the Ravens-Texans broadcast peaked at more than 27 million viewers. (This could be partly due to Beyoncé’s halftime performance.) The doubleheader featured the two “most-streamed NFL games in U.S. history,” Netflix added.
“We are excited about our first Christmas Gameday on Netflix, with NFL games streaming to a global audience,” said Hans Schroeder, NFL executive vice president of media distribution. “Fans from all 50 states and more than 200 countries around the world watched some of the league’s brightest stars as well as a dazzling performance from Beyoncé on a historic day for the NFL.”
It should be noted that both NFL games were broadcast in direct competition with the NBA games, with Chief Steelers (1 p.m. ET) and Ravens-Texans (4:30 p.m. ET) broadcast alongside New York Knicks-San Antonio Spurs (12 p.m. ET), Minnesota Timberwolves-Dallas Mavericks (2:30 p.m. ET) and Boston Celtics-Philadelphia 76ers (5 p.m. ET).
The NBA is the “most watched Christmas” since 2019
Despite direct competition from the NFL and a number of injured or absent basketball stars, the NBA averaged 5.2 million viewers for its most-watched Christmas in five years, the league announced Thursday.
The Lakers’ Christmas Day win over the Golden State Warriors was the NBA crown jewel of the day, drawing an average of 7.7 million viewers who watched James and Steph Curry face off. The audience peaked at 8.3 million viewers as Curry single-handedly led a comeback that ultimately failed. The Lakers-Warriors broadcast is the league’s most-watched NBA regular season game since 2019.
The NBA roster opened with the New York Knicks Victory 117-114 against the San Antonio Spurs, attracting 4.9 million viewers to become the most-watched Christmas Day opening game in 13 years. The Phoenix Sun 110-100 victory on the Denver Nuggets finished the night averaging 3.8 million viewers, the largest ever for the late Christmas window.
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