{"id":114418,"date":"2024-12-27T21:59:04","date_gmt":"2024-12-28T02:59:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=114418"},"modified":"2024-12-27T21:59:04","modified_gmt":"2024-12-28T02:59:04","slug":"nba-turned-to-lebron-curry-fiba-while-nfl-turned-to-beyonce-to-dominate-christmas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/12\/27\/nba-turned-to-lebron-curry-fiba-while-nfl-turned-to-beyonce-to-dominate-christmas\/","title":{"rendered":"NBA Turned To LeBron, Curry, FIBA While NFL Turned To Beyonc\u00e9"},"content":{"rendered":"

Christmas Day<\/a> has long been associated with marquee NBA<\/a> matchups. This year, however, the NFL<\/a> stole the show. Despite the NBA assembling an all-star lineup<\/a> of games and players, the NFL leveraged strategic programming and entertainment to dominate viewership on Christmas.<\/p>\n

NBA Turned To LeBron, Curry, FIBA While NFL Turned To Beyonc\u00e9 To Dominate Christmas<\/h2>\n

NBA\u2019s Star-Studded Lineup<\/h3>\n

The NBA showcased five blockbuster games on Christmas Day, headlined by iconic matchups and historic rivalries. The league strategically highlighted star players like LeBron James<\/a>, Stephen Curry<\/a>, Nikola Joki\u0107<\/a>, and Kevin Durant.<\/a><\/p>\n

The day began with Victor Wembanyama\u2019s<\/a> San Antonio Spurs<\/a> facing the New York Knicks<\/a> at Madison Square Garden, giving fans a glimpse of the future at the NBA\u2019s most famous venue. A rematch of last year\u2019s Western Conference Finals followed, with Luka Don\u010di\u0107\u2019s<\/a> Dallas Mavericks<\/a> battling Anthony Edwards<\/a>\u2019 Minnesota Timberwolves<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The slate also featured a classic rivalry between the Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers, LeBron and Curry renewing their on-court rivalry, and Durant squaring off against Joki\u0107 in a thrilling Phoenix Suns <\/a>– Denver Nuggets<\/a> contest.<\/p>\n

FIBA\u2019s Influence on NBA Gameplay<\/h3>\n

To keep games fast-paced and entertaining, the NBA borrowed from FIBA\u2019s playbook. Officials focused on reducing free throws, leading to a quicker tempo. During Christmas games, teams averaged 17 free throws compared to the season average of 22<\/a>.<\/p>\n

NFL\u2019s Christmas Coup<\/h3>\n

The NFL, however, proved unstoppable. It aired just two games but still dominated the day. The Baltimore Ravens beat the Houston Texans 31-2, while Patrick Mahomes<\/a> and Travis Kelce<\/a> led the Kansas City Chiefs to a 29-10 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers.<\/p>\n

Both games streamed on Netflix<\/em>, drawing<\/a> nearly 65 million viewers combined. The Ravens-Texans game peaked with Beyonc\u00e9\u2019s halftime performance, which averaged<\/a> 27 million viewers. The NFL\u2019s partnership with Netflix<\/em> ensured its holiday programming reached a massive audience.<\/p>\n

Beyonc\u00e9\u2019s Halftime Performance<\/h3>\n

The NFL pulled out all the stops, securing Beyonc\u00e9 for a 15-minute halftime show in Texas. The global superstar\u2019s performance, featuring her daughter Blue Ivy Carter as a backup dancer, captivated viewers.<\/p>\n

The NFL\u2019s ability to mix sports with world-class entertainment cemented its dominance. Beyonc\u00e9\u2019s performance alone drew more viewers than most NBA games that day.<\/p>\n

Viewership Results<\/h3>\n

The NFL\u2019s Christmas games were the second and third-most popular live titles in Netflix<\/em> history. The NBA, meanwhile, averaged 5.2 million<\/a> viewers per game across its slate. On the other hand, the NBA announced that this was its most watched Christmas since 2019.<\/p>\n

While the NBA celebrated year-over-year viewership increases, the NFL showed it could reach new heights with fewer games and broader appeal.<\/p>\n

The NFL Will Continue to Compete with the NBA for Christmas Dominance<\/h3>\n

The NFL\u2019s success guarantees its continued presence on Christmas Day. With at least two games scheduled for 2025, the NBA faces a challenging battle for holiday supremacy.<\/p>\n

Despite the NFL\u2019s dominance, the NBA still had wins<\/a>. LeBron and Curry\u2019s showdown was a ratings triumph, and the league saw growth across all games.\u00a0The Lakers-Warriors game drew 7.76 million viewers, peaking at 8.32 million. It became the most-watched NBA regular-season game in five years, showcasing the league\u2019s ability to entertain with thrilling finishes.<\/p>\n

However, it\u2019s clear\u00a0that the mix of football, star power, and entertainment is the new holiday standard. Both leagues will continue to innovate, but for now, the NFL reigns supreme.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Christmas Day has long been associated with marquee NBA matchups. This year, however, the NFL stole the show. Despite the NBA assembling an all-star lineup of games and players, the NFL leveraged strategic programming and entertainment to dominate viewership on Christmas. NBA Turned To LeBron, Curry, FIBA While NFL Turned To Beyonc\u00e9 To Dominate Christmas […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5018,"featured_media":114432,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[62,1608,25,26],"tags":[2109,1195,69,38,1133,1341,49498,49627,72,48,4669],"class_list":["post-114418","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba","category-basketball","category-warriors","category-lakers","tag-anthony-edwards","tag-fiba","tag-kevin-durant","tag-lebron-james","tag-luka-doncic","tag-nba-christmas-day","tag-netflix","tag-nfl","tag-nikola-jokic","tag-stephen-curry","tag-victor-wembanyama"],"modified_by":"Frederick Okocha","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114418","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5018"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=114418"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114418\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":114431,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114418\/revisions\/114431"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/114432"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=114418"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=114418"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=114418"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}