Christmas Day has always been known as a time of peace, joy, and… football, apparently.
Returning to its former holiday tradition, last month, the NFL announced it would play three games on Christmas Day during the 2025 season. Netflix will stream the first two, while Amazon will host the nightcap as part of its ongoing deal to stream Thursday Night Football.
This will be the NFL’s first-ever Christmas Day game played on a Thursday. Last season’s matchups were played on a Wednesday, indicating the league’s interests in aligning games with the holiday regardless of which day it falls on. As an increasingly major player in live sports broadcasting, Netflix is streaming holiday games for the second time as part of a three-year agreement the media giant signed with the NFL in 2024.
The NFL’s decision to continue holiday games is clearly driven by popular demand. Last year’s games were a huge hit: more than 27 million viewers on average watched both games. With numbers like this, don’t be surprised if the NFL renews its tradition of Christmas Day football again moving forward, providing fans with more opportunities to celebrate the holidays gathered around the gridiron instead of the fireplace.
It remains unknown which teams will compete on Christmas Day. Fans won’t know if they’ll need to purchase tickets or adjust their holiday plans until the NFL releases its 2025 season schedule on May 14th.
The NFL will play Christmas Day games in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 2016-17. Last season, the Chiefs defeated the Steelers in Pittsburgh, while the Ravens dismantled the Texans in Houston. The league likely will prioritize marquee matchups to take advantage of the massive audience it’s sure to have throughout the day.
It’s difficult to predict how much fans should expect to pay to attend these games until the season gets started; however, last year’s schedule can provide some clues. For the Chiefs-Steelers matchup, the cheapest tickets were around $120, and fans could attend the Ravens-Texans game for around $150. Based on the success of last year’s games and the increasing popularity of Christmas football, prices could climb higher this season.
While fans may be eager to guess potential Christmas Day matchups, it’s best to wait for the official schedule’s release. The announcement next week will surely inspire many fans to create all-new traditions for their families– and maybe even add a yuletide win to their wish lists.
