The NBA and NFL Christmas Day battle was notably documented by Los Angeles Lakers forward, LeBron James. The latter has always supported both leagues whenever he can. However, the NFL has gotten the better of the NBA around the holidays, and specifically Christmas.
After an influx of viewership, James claimed that the NBA still rules on Christmas Day. Despite his claim, the numbers didn't prove what he was saying. On the New Heights Show, the Los Angeles forward finally confessed that the NFL had the upper hand over the NBA.
“I saw the f*****g numbers after the fact… From a viewership standpoint, y'all kicked our a*s,” James said, laughing. “The games weren't as great as they should have been.”
James makes a solid point though about the games. Christmas Day games always had a unique vibe and element to it. For starters, the teams had custom jerseys for Christmas. Over the past five years, that tradition has flown out the window. Many players like James himself, and others have wanted a comeback for the custom jerseys.
For the NFL, this was their first major season broadcasting on Christmas. Despite it being on a Wednesday, there were two games. The Baltimore Ravens and Houston Texans, as well as the Kansas City Chiefs and Pittsburgh Steelers. Both games swept the floor with the NBA from a viewership standpoint. There were 65 million watching football and 5.2 million fans watching basketball, respectively.
Lakers' LeBron James saw the NFL, and NBA viewership numbers
Even though the 5.2 million fans was the highest viewership for a Christmas Day game in five years, it didn't come to a close. However, there were some other reasons that the NFL had an advantage over the NBA. For instance, Beyonce performed for the NFL at halftime during the Ravens and Texans game.
Plus, the game was streamed on Netflix, a service that has 282.7 million paid global subscribers. Streaming the game through that platform brought in a variety of people. Not to mention, the broadcast itself was very smooth, not glitchy, and the production behind it was exceptional for the first-ever game.
On the flip side, all the NBA Christmas Day games were broadcasted through ABC/ESPN. For some, they might not have cable or that respective streaming service. Still, the NBA took more pride in the games. Even with the increased competition, it didn't withstand the production that the NFL.
However, there's always next year to try and thin the margin between the two.