One might think the NFL’s expansion onto nearly every possible holiday would send other leagues scrambling, but the reverse has been true for the NBA.
NBCUniversal announced Wednesday that it will carry a Presidents Day NBA quadrupleheader this season, which the company says is a first. Three of the four games are set for the NBC broadcast network — Timberwolves-Hornets at Noon ET, 76ers-Mavericks at 2:30 and Spurs-Heat at 5:00 — and the nightcap, Pacers-Warriors, is set for Peacock and NBCSN.
The NBA does not usually play any games on Presidents Day, which is almost always the day after the league’s All-Star Game. But with the Super Bowl on Presidents Day weekend for the first time this year, NBA All-Star Weekend has been pushed back a week. As a result, the league will have games on the holiday for the first time since 2021 and just the third time since 2003.
Nationally televised Presidents Day games have been scarce. In 2012, when the All-Star Game was later than usual in anticipation of the lockout that delayed the season, ESPN and TNT combined for three games on the holiday. In 2003, ESPN was scheduled to carry a Raptors-Wizards matinee on Presidents Day — also Wizards G Michael Jordan’s 40th birthday — that was postponed due to weather.
In addition to the Presidents Day slate, NBCU will carry a Martin Luther King Day quadrupleheader for the second-straight year. The format will be the same as on Presidents Day, with NBC airing a daytime tripleheader — Pistons-Cavaliers at Noon ET, 76ers-Hawks at 2:30 and Timberwolves-Knicks at 5:00 — followed by a nightcap (Rockets-Grizzlies) on Peacock and NBCSN.
The MLK Day schedule is a bit different from last year, when the NBC broadcast network carried the final three games of the company’s quadrupleheader, including the nightcap. Last year’s primetime Celtics-Pistons game faced strong competition from the College Football Playoff National Championship, which had more than 30 million viewers, and this year’s competition will almost certainly be even stronger — an NFL Wild Card game.
But the league and NBC could have avoided the NFL altogether, as NBCU is only contractually obligated to carry two games on the holiday (and not required to air them on its broadcast network).
The NBA also announced its schedule for Thanksgiving Week as part of the unveiling of its NBA Cup slate. ESPN will again carry a Thanksgiving Eve tripleheader, despite the NFL scheduling a game on the night for the first time. Coverage begins with Heat-76ers at 5 PM ET, followed by Timberwolves-Thunder at 7:30 and Spurs-Trail Blazers at 10:00. The NFL has a Packers-Rams game scheduled for 8:30 PM ET on Netflix.
ESPN has long made Thanksgiving Eve one of the higher-profile nights on its regular season schedule, scheduling marquee games like LeBron James’ first return to Cleveland as a Laker in 2018. Last year was the first time it carried a tripleheader on the day.
The NBA has a long history of competing against the NFL on holidays, with the league maintaining its five-game Christmas Day schedule even as the NFL has expanded its slate on the holiday to span virtually the entire day. While any competition with the NFL usually results in some unfavorable viewership comparisons on social media — which the NBA seems to attract more than any other league — holiday viewing levels are usually high enough to generate larger-than-average audiences even opposite the toughest competition.
As for the rest of Thanksgiving week, Prime Video is set to carry Heat-Knicks and Lakers-Spurs on Black Friday, with that doubleheader following the streamer’s annual NFL game on the holiday, Broncos-Steelers. NBC has Celtics-Wizards and Mavericks-Nuggets as part of its “Coast 2 Coast Tuesday” regional slate on November 24, marking the Wizards’ first appearance on NBC since the Jordan-era squad faced the Mavericks in March 2002.
The announcements Wednesday followed the unveiling of the Opening Night and Christmas Day schedules on Tuesday. Between Opening Night, MLK Day and Presidents Day, there are at least three tripleheaders scheduled for the NBC broadcast network this season.
