The NFL plans to schedule three Christmas Day games every year for the foreseeable future.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said on “The Pat McAfee Show” Friday that the league will schedule a Christmas Day tripleheader every year, regardless of the day on which the holiday falls.
The 2025 NFL schedule, which the league said Thursday is set to be released May 15, is expected to feature three Christmas games — two on Netflix and one on Thursday Night Football broadcaster Amazon, which would have rights because the holiday falls on a Thursday.
The confirmation by Goodell is a bit of an about face for the NFL, whose executives once said that the league would never play Christmas games when the holiday fell on Tuesday or Wednesday, then said they would only play two games in those years. Fans can now expect a full day of football on Christmas going forward.
The most complicated year to schedule Christmas games will likely be when the holiday falls on a Wednesday, as in 2024. To maintain the required four full rest days for the players, the involved teams had to play on the Saturday before Christmas or use a late bye week. It is not clear how the expansion from four to six teams will impact those scheduling adjustments.
Goodell also shared to McAfee that the Detroit Lions game on Thanksgiving will be moved from 12:30 PM to 1 PM, in line with the rest of the NFL’s early afternoon kickoffs. Kickoff in Dallas will remain at 4:30 PM, followed by the primetime game on NBC. Among other considerations, the move ensures the NBC telecast of the Thanksgiving Day Parade is complete in the Eastern and Central time zones before the NFL kicks off.
Check out everything else currently known about this year’s schedule with SMW’s NFL Schedule Release Tracker.
