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MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – JANUARY 17: Alexis Ohanian, husband of Serena Williams watches on from the stands during her second round match against Eugene Bouchard of Canada during day four of the 2019 Australian Open at Melbourne Park on January 17, 2019 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
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MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – JANUARY 17: Alexis Ohanian, husband of Serena Williams watches on from the stands during her second round match against Eugene Bouchard of Canada during day four of the 2019 Australian Open at Melbourne Park on January 17, 2019 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
The NBA has Christmas Day on lock for a long time. The viewership that the NBA has been able to rack up through these Christmas Day matchups is staggering. Some of the best teams in the league go head to head on Christmas, led by marquee superstars, fueling old rivalries and generating new ones. But it seems like NFL wants a piece of the NBA’s current monopoly on Christmas day.?
Reddit co-founder, entrepreneur, and Tennis legend Serena Williams’ husband, Alexis Ohanian recently highlighted the fact that NFL is challenging the NBA with a triple-header on Christmas Day. The NBA has always boasted five games on Christmas that are televized in over 200 countries in 50 languages. However, the National Football League is not satisfied with being just a bystander anymore, especially for one very relevant reason.
NFL stepping on the toes of the NBA
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The NFL has a tradition of televising some of their best matchups on Thanksgiving, like college football has New Year?s on lock. But now with the NFL stepping on the NBA?s toes, it clearly indicates that they are all about pushing boundaries. Alexis Ohanian recently tweeted, ?NBA always had Christmas Eve/Day on lock. Bold move by the NFL to show up and say they wants some of that gravy, especially ruthless because this time of year, the NFL games matter a lot more in the season than the NBA games. Where’s your attention??
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(Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group) (Photo by MediaNews Group/Bay Area News via Getty Images)
Ohanian also gave a prediction that in the future the NFL will provide better matchups for fans, along with better marketing, in order to take some of that ?gravy? from the NBA. Now the question remains, how will the NBA respond to such competition from the biggest sports league in the country.?
Prediction: over the next few years, the NFL is gonna stack this new Christmas Day Triple-Header with more marketing, better match-ups, etc.
— Alexis Ohanian 🇦🇲 (@alexisohanian) December 25, 2022
The NBA has a long-standing tradition(75 years) of airing some of the best matchups on Christmas Day. And these games are long anticipated by fans as they rack up the most viewership as well. It will be interesting to see what sport the viewers choose on the special occasion, with two of the biggest leagues in the nation fighting for their attention.
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NBA had Christmas on lock
Some of the most iconic matchups on Christmas Day in the past have been LeBron James‘ Cleveland Cavaliers facing Stephen Curry?s Golden State Warriors. This was when James was playing for ‘The Land’ as these two teams met on Christmas from 2015 to 2017.
Watch This Story – Stephen Curry and his wife Ayesha make Christmas special with an angelic gesture for 500 kids and families
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If we got back a little further, the Christmas Day matchup of the Los Angeles Lakers and the Miami Heat racked up a record for ABC with 13.18 million viewers. This was the first time Kobe Bryant faced off with Shaquille O?Neal after his trade to the Heat.
So it looks like the NFL will be throwing some big names at fans to steal some viewership from the NBA in the future. Let?s see who gets the last laugh.
