Former Philadelphia Eagle and future Hall of Famer Jason Kelce believes that the NFL is taking over from the NBA during the holiday seasons, with the schedule favoring the football slate.
NFL Taking over Christmas slate
This year the NFL has a juiced Christmas schedule, with three games on the 25th of December – more than ever before.
The Commanders vs Cowboys (1pm), Vikings vs Lions (430pm) and Chiefs vs Broncos (815pm) make for great viewing on Christmas Day and Jason Kelce thinks this is just the start of the NFL’s holiday takeover.
“I’m a fan of playing on more prime-time times,” Kelce said on the newest episode of his New Heights podcast. “That’s when I’m watching TV and I like it when football is on television, so let’s keep putting good football games on television when everybody’s watching. Let’s keep taking over all the holidays.
“We’re taking over Thanksgiving, Christmas. NBA, you’re (expletive). You’re never getting that back. I mean, that’s the way it is.”
The NFL traditionally had just one game on prime time for Christmas Day but last year the league managed to secure a better package with two evening games.
Kelce was spotted this week at the NFL owners meeting ahead of the new season as he attempted (successfully) to prevent the Tush Push from being banned.
Jason Kelce, tush push savior and happy man pic.twitter.com/l6aaL4S4wl
— Jori Epstein (@JoriEpstein) May 21, 2025
NBA not concerned by competition
While the NFL seems to be taking over the Christmas schedule, NBA commissioner Adam Silver doesn’t seem to be bothered in the slightest.
“There’s nothing wrong with competition,” Silver said while speaking on the radio this week. “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.”
With the current NBA season still not over, next year’s schedule isn’t anywhere near being ready, but Silver may throw in some surprises after the NFL’s announcement.
“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.”
There are no NFL games on Christmas Eve so the NBA should enjoy great ratings as usual but on Christmas Day fans will have a tough decision to make.
