If there was any doubt, well, there shouldn’t have been.
The moment the NFL did an abrupt about-face on its vow to not play games when December 25 lands on a Tuesday or a Wednesday, it was obvious that the NFL will find a way to play multiple games on any day of the week that happens to be Christmas Day.
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones confirmed the obvious during his weekly Tuesday appearance on 105.3 The Fan in Dallas. Whenever Christmas happens, pro football will happen, too.
“Christmas Day is Christmas Day, and it doesn’t wait around for what day it’s on,” Jones said, via Christian Arnold of the New York Post. “We want to be there on Christmas Day. . . . I would think the future is whatever day it’s on, we’re going to be there on Christmas.”
Wednesday is the toughest day to pull it off. And it really wasn’t that hard to do it. Have the teams that will play that day play on Saturday of the prior week, and it’s no different from a Sunday-Thursday turnaround.
Tuesday is even easier. Four (or six) teams that would have played on Sunday have their games shifted by two days. Then, they all play the following Sunday.
It’s longer than the usual short week, which has only three days off between games. With four days off between Tuesday and Sunday, it’s a no-brainer.
From the moment the NFL said there won’t be games when Christmas games on Tuesdays or Wednesdays, we knew that would change. First, there’s far too much money to be made. Second, why surrender the day back to the NBA?
It’s a captive audience, same as Thanksgiving. Even on Netflix, the cash and the ratings will justify peeling games away from the cluster of Sunday afternoon contests.
So, yeah, it’s permanent. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Wednesday, Friday, Sunday, Saturday. If Christmas lands on a day ending in “Y,” the NFL will be playing games on each and every December 25.
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