Currently, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and his front office executive staff are looking for ways to make their product as digestible as possible for fans following a 2023 season that once again saw Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs hoist the Lombardi Trophy after winning yet another Super Bowl Championship. While Mahomes continues to establish himself as the face of the league and seemingly ensuring that it's in good hands for the next several years, several concerns have still permeated Goodell's NFL front office, including questions about how the NFL will handle Christmas Day games going forward.
Previously, the NFL has stated that if Christmas were to fall on a Tuesday or a Wednesday, then the league would refrain from scheduling games on that day. Now, it appears that the league is reversing that stance, as Christmas 2024 indeed falls on a Wednesday, and the NFL is still planning on scheduling a double-header.
However, fans hoping to see more NFL action on Tuesdays and Wednesdays moving forward should probably not get their hopes up.
“It will not be a regular thing,” Goodell said when asked whether more games will be scheduled on these days, per Mike Florio of NBC Sports' Pro Football Talk. “It will be when Christmas falls on a Wednesday.”
Of course, Christmas Day has historically been viewed as a day that belongs to the NBA, which frequently schedules five nationally televised games for the occasion. The NFL, meanwhile, has always dominated Thanksgiving. However, as ratings and revenue continue to increase for Goodell and the NFL, it makes sense that they'd want to test their luck even on a day that isn't traditionally viewed as being associated with them.
A transitional period for the NFL
In recent years, Roger Goodell and company have made some minor, and major, tweaks to the way that America's biggest sports league conducts its business. Some of those changes have taken place on the field, as the league has recently implemented much stricter rules for defenders when going for a hit in an attempt to prevent the head injuries that the league is so often associated with. This of course has led to complaints from fans and players alike, who are concerned that defense is effectively being legislated out of the game.
However, this change oddly coincided with a drop in scoring in recent seasons, a drop that some members of the league brass would like to see changed, per NBC Sports. The NFL is also mulling a potential change in the way kickoffs are conducted, which will less severely penalize teams who don't want to kick the ball off to dangerous returners.
Of course, other widespread changes have also taken place for the league on a business level, including their increased collaboration with sportsbooks, as well as scheduling tweaks like the implementation of two Monday Night Football games per night at the beginning of the season, as well as this most recent change by opening Wednesday up for business when Christmas falls on that day.
In any case, as the game continues to grow, expect more changes to be in order for the league front office.
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