Overview
- On ESPN’s NBA Tipoff, Charles Barkley criticized Roger Goodell and the NFL for scheduling Christmas games, saying the league got greedy and declaring the holiday an NBA day.
- The NFL ran a three-game slate with Cowboys–Commanders and Lions–Vikings on Netflix and Broncos–Chiefs on Prime Video, part of a package reported at about $150 million per year for Netflix.
- The NBA countered with a five-game lineup on ABC/ESPN featuring stars including LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Luka Dončić, Nikola Jokić and Victor Wembanyama.
- ESPN analysts Kendrick Perkins and Richard Jefferson argued the NFL should leave Dec. 25 to the NBA, while players like Draymond Green and LeBron James have said they would prefer to be home with family.
- Recent seasons show NFL games draw much larger single-game audiences than the NBA’s Christmas average, though this year’s football matchups were diluted by injuries to multiple starting quarterbacks.