As the NFL releases its schedule this week, Roger Goodell should know Adam Silver and the NBA will be waiting for them on Christmas Day.
For nearly three-quarters of a century, the NBA owned Christmas Day. The NBA played its first Christmas Day game in 1947 and has continued the tradition ever since. But the NBA has undoubtedly lost much of that previously assumed spotlight in recent years, thanks to the NFL nudging its way onto the Christmas Day sports calendar.
Since 2016, the NFL has played as many Christmas Day games as it did throughout its prior history, and they’ve shown no signs of letting up. Christmas was on a Wednesday last year and even that didn’t stop the NFL from selling a package of games to Netflix.
You might think Silver would be bothered by the NFL infringing on Christmas, but the NBA commissioner is choosing to welcome the competition. Silver addressed battling the NFL for attention on Christmas Day while speaking with SiriusXM NBA Radio hosts Justin Termine, Eddie Johnson and Ryan McDonough before the draft lottery.
“We don’t own Christmas…competition keeps you on your toes. The NFL sees an opportunity on Christmas. I accept that”
With the NFL schedule being released this week, Adam Silver talks to @TermineRadio, @Jumpshot8 & Ryan McDonough about how the NBA is approaching potential… pic.twitter.com/0u8TU6Xdf2
— SiriusXM NBA Radio (@SiriusXMNBA) May 13, 2025
“There’s nothing wrong with competition,” Silver admitted. “We don’t own Christmas, even though we’ve been playing on Christmas Day for 75 years in our league. So there’s this huge tradition of playing on Christmas Day…But I think competition keeps you on your toes. The NFL sees an opportunity on Christmas. I accept that. But you know, to your question, I think we’ll continue to look at our schedule.”
“There’s been some discussion around Christmas Eve,” Silver admitted. “I’m not sure if that makes sense. I think given Christmas has been such a tradition in our league, and guys have known that there are no games on Christmas Eve, and that’s an opportunity to be with their family. So I’m not sure if that makes sense.”
The NBA has not played on Christmas Eve since the 1960s and it doesn’t sound like Silver is close to conceding Christmas Day.
Surely, Silver would have preferred if the NFL left the NBA alone on Christmas Day. But what is he supposed to do, other than welcome the competition? Silver knows the NBA is at a disadvantage and can’t afford to get into a public battle with the NFL.
He can, however, continue to schedule premium talent on Christmas Day and hope it leads to competitive games, like it did last year. The NBA had five great games last Christmas, showcasing Jalen Brunson, Victor Wembanyama, Steph Curry, LeBron James, Nikola Jokić and a double bang from Mike Breen. The NFL, meanwhile, had the Kansas City Chiefs dominating the Pittsburgh Steelers 29-10 following by the Baltimore Ravens blowing out the Houston Texans 31-2.
The NBA will never come close to out-rating the NFL. But the NBA proved it’s still capable of offering a better product than the NFL on Christmas Day, which is what they should keep striving to do.