Why no games on Christmas?

[DoobieKeebler]

What gives? We have the annual Thanksgiving games, but on Christmas the only option sports fans have is basketball. Heck, the most Christmas-y sport on the planet -hockey- doesn't play on Christmas.

What do you guys think? Would you watch if there were NFL games on Christmas? I know I personally would love watching a game with playoff implications like next week's Cowboys vs Eagles, or a similar division match up like SF @ Arizona. It'd be like an extra Christmas present.

 

[Cloud]

Christmas doesn't fall on the same day as thanksgiving. Having to play on a Wednesday is strange! Not to mention the nfl will have a hard time scheduling games because it needs to fall only on Sundays, Mondays, or thursdays

 

[ChrisPozz]

Christmas doesn't fall on the same day as thanksgiving. Having to play on a Wednesday is strange! Not to mention the nfl will have a hard time scheduling games because it needs to fall only on Sundays, Mondays, or thursdays

And in the final week of the season the NFL doesn't want any competitive advantages/disadvantages given to any teams who would get extra/less time off going into the playoffs.

 

[DoobieKeebler]

And in the final week of the season the NFL doesn't want any competitive advantages/disadvantages given to any teams who would get extra/less time off going into the playoffs.

Damn that's actually a really good point. I was only thinking of scheduling from Week 16 to Week 17 and not thinking about the playoffs.

 

[Cloud]

And in the final week of the season the NFL doesn't want any competitive advantages/disadvantages given to any teams who would get extra/less time off going into the playoffs.

Exactly and by the time week 14 or 15 rolls around every teams should be on theirs BYEs already, so there's really no chance for any teams to rest up for a Christmas that could possibly fall on a Tuesday for example after they already played on Sunday.

It's a real health concern as well.

 

[Cloud]

Damn that's actually a really good point. I was only thinking of scheduling from Week 16 to Week 17 and not thinking about the playoffs.

Yup. This is why you see no games being played on Thursdays or Mondays on Week 17. Every team will have a fair advantage going into the playoffs.

 

[DoobieKeebler]

Exactly and by the time week 14 or 15 rolls around every teams should be on theirs BYEs already, so there's really no chance for any teams to rest up for a Christmas that could possibly fall on a Tuesday for example after they already played on Sunday.

It's a real health concern as well.

As for that part I was imagining the teams that play on, say, a Wednesday, would have played a Thursday night game the week before. Teams would have had the equivalent of a Monday-Sunday timeframe.

I never meant for a team to play within 72 of their previous game, but the issue with having a Wednesday game in week 17 THEN a Saturday/Sunday playoff game is what I was blatantly forgetting to consider because I just want to watch football while I eat holiday food.

 

[Cloud]

As for that part I was imagining the teams that play on, say, a Wednesday, would have played a Thursday night game the week before. If the Game was on a Tuesday, they could have played on a Sunday or Monday the week before. Teams would have had the equivalent of a Monday-Sunday timeframe.

I never meant for a team to play within 72 of their previous game, but the issue with having a Wednesday game in week 17 THEN a Saturday/Sunday playoff game is what I was blatantly forgetting to consider because I just want to watch football while I eat holiday food.

Yeah I understand your logic, but the thing with that is Thursday nights in the NFL usually just feature 1 game. You'll then have to schedule the same teams to face each other again on Christmas the following week?

This goes back to what I was saying about how the NFL will have a hard time sorting this out if games are played on Christmas Day. It's a headache that I'm sure they want to avoid. This is a lot different than traditional Thanksgiving games.

Not to mention xmas falls on final week of the season and it'll probably never happen.

 

[DoobieKeebler]

Yeah I understand your logic, but the thing with that is Thursday nights in the NFL usually just feature 1 game. You'll then have to schedule the same teams to face each other again on Christmas the following week?

This goes back to what I was saying about how the NFL will have a hard time sorting this out if games are played on Christmas Day. It's a headache that I'm sure they want to avoid. This is a lot different than traditional Thanksgiving games.

Not to mention xmas falls on final week of the season and it'll probably never happen.

Not at all. 1 team would have a week and a half off. But look, I already admitted it's a terrible, not well thought out idea, because then the team with the long week would need ANOTHER long week.

Like I said, I just wanted to watch football while eating holiday food. I tend to find my head up my own ass sometimes, so I don't always think things through before I type.

 

[RobToxin]

There was once a college game called the Blue Gray Classic which was an All Star Game that featured players from Union and Confederate states that were on teams that didn't make bowl games.

This was played every Christmas Day.

This game was a casualty of the Bowl Alliance that eventually led to the BCS.

 

[Hangman]

The NFL and the NBA have and agreement. No NFL games on Christmas, No NBA games on Thanksgiving