The Chiefs reportedly have volunteered to become a permanent fixture on Christmas Day. The NFL is not prepared to accept the offer.
Mike North, the NFL’s V.P. of broadcast planning & scheduling, recently addressed that and many other topics during an appearance on the It’s Always Gameday in Buffalo podcast.
“I’m not sure that’s gonna become a tradition quite the way Thanksgiving is,” North said. “I mean, think about what it took for that tradition, right? The Lions since the ‘30s, the Cowboys since the ‘60s. We didn’t commit to a third site on Thanksgiving when we brought that back about 20 years ago. We rotated that around. I imagine we’re gonna keep rotating Christmas around, too.”
He noted that it’s a lot to expect from a team’s fans to show up for a Christmas game every year. He also made the point that we mentioned when the report first surfaced. The Chiefs won’t be good forever. It makes far more sense to select the slate every year — and possibly to preserve a flex option.
“Never say never,” North said. “Let’s see what the next few years bring. But I don’t think we’re today gonna commit to a permanent third host for Thanksgiving, a permanent host for Black Friday, or a permanent host for Christmas.”
It’s the smart play. Christmas games will be a permanent fixture of the NFL landscape. The impressive worldwide live broadcast on Netflix makes it an even bigger deal.
Making the Netflix broadcast even more impressive is the now-common claim, as repeated by North, that the Christmas 2024 games on Netflix reached “200 countries.”
That’s one hell of a feat, given that there aren’t 200 countries on the entire planet.
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