If you had told a football fan five years ago that they’d be watching Patrick Mahomes on a Wednesday afternoon via the same app they use to binge Stranger Things, they probably would’ve laughed you out of the room. But that was exactly the reality for the christmas football games 2024. The NFL didn't just break tradition; they shattered it by scheduling a doubleheader on a Wednesday, a day usually reserved for office holiday parties and last-minute gift wrapping.
Netflix paid a king's ransom for this. We’re talking about a three-year deal that basically signaled the end of the "NBA owns Christmas" era. Honestly, it was a massive gamble. Streaming a live event to tens of millions of people simultaneously is a technical nightmare—just ask anyone who tried to watch the Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul fight earlier that year. But for the Christmas games, the "Tudum" intro meant business.
The Mahomes Masterclass in Pittsburgh
The day kicked off at Acrisure Stadium with the Kansas City Chiefs taking on the Pittsburgh Steelers. It wasn’t exactly a "Silent Night" for the Steelers' defense. Patrick Mahomes was surgical, throwing for 320 yards and three touchdowns. He looked comfortable, which is terrifying for the rest of the AFC.
The final score was 29-10.
Kansas City officially clinched the AFC’s No. 1 seed with that win. Think about that for a second. While most people were digging into honey-baked ham, the Chiefs were securing home-field advantage through the playoffs. Travis Kelce caught eight passes for 84 yards, and in doing so, he passed Tony Gonzalez on the Chiefs' all-time touchdown reception list. It was a historic afternoon for a guy who spent the better part of 2024 in the global spotlight for reasons both on and off the field.
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Pittsburgh, on the other hand, looked kinda lost. Russell Wilson had a rough go of it, including a brutal interception by Justin Reid right after a potential touchdown run was called back for holding. It was the kind of game that makes a fan base start looking at mock drafts by the third quarter.
Lamar Jackson and the Record-Breaking Beatdown
The second half of the christmas football games 2024 took us to Houston. The Baltimore Ravens didn’t just beat the Houston Texans; they dismantled them. 31-2. Yes, you read that right. A safety was the only scoring Houston could muster.
Lamar Jackson was playing a different game than everyone else. He only needed 15 passing attempts because he spent the rest of the time demoralizing the Texans' front seven with his legs.
- 87 rushing yards for Lamar.
- He officially passed Michael Vick for the most career rushing yards by a quarterback in NFL history.
- He did it in 41 fewer games than Vick.
Derrick Henry was equally terrifying. He rumbled for 147 yards on 27 carries. The Ravens looked like a team that could run through a brick wall, which is essentially what their offense feels like when Henry and Jackson are both clicking. For Houston, it was a wake-up call. C.J. Stroud struggled without Tank Dell, finishing with zero touchdowns and a whole lot of frustration.
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Why the "Beyoncé Bowl" Mattered
The football was great, but the cultural moment happened at halftime in Houston. Netflix brought out Beyoncé. In her hometown. For a 13-minute set that featured a surprise appearance by Blue Ivy.
It wasn't just a halftime show; it was a stress test for the internet. Nielsen data later showed that viewership for the Ravens-Texans game peaked during her performance, hitting over 27 million viewers. For a few minutes, #BeyonceBowl was the number one trending topic globally, even beating out #Christmas.
This is the new NFL playbook. You don't just give people a game; you give them an event. By pairing the reigning MVP with the biggest pop star on the planet, the NFL made sure that even people who don't know what a "holding penalty" is were tuned in to the christmas football games 2024.
Breaking Down the Massive Viewership Numbers
The NFL and Netflix basically took a victory lap the week after. According to Netflix’s own data and Nielsen’s Big Data + Panel, the two games averaged about 30 million global viewers. In the U.S. alone, they averaged 26.5 million.
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- Unduplicated audience: Nearly 65 million U.S. viewers watched at least part of the games.
- Global reach: Fans in 218 countries and territories tuned in.
- Social impact: The games generated over 1 billion impressions across social media platforms.
It’s important to realize how much these numbers hurt the NBA. For decades, the NBA had Christmas Day to itself. In 2024, the NBA’s five-game slate averaged around 5.25 million viewers per game. While LeBron James joked that "Christmas is our day," the math says otherwise. The NFL has officially moved into the neighborhood, and they’ve brought a very loud sound system.
The Player Safety Debate
Not everyone was a fan of the Wednesday schedule. Players have been vocal about the "short week" problem for years. Playing on a Wednesday means your entire biological clock is trashed. You play Sunday, you have two days of "rest," and then you’re back on the field.
Roger Goodell had previously said the league wouldn't play on Tuesdays or Wednesdays. He changed his mind. Why? Because money talks, and 30 million viewers shout. To mitigate the risk, the league ensured that the four teams playing on Christmas also played the previous Saturday. This gave them a four-day gap, which is essentially the same as the turnaround for a standard Thursday Night Football game.
Still, you could see the fatigue. In the Steelers game especially, the intensity seemed to dip in the fourth quarter. It’s a delicate balance between maximizing revenue and not breaking the athletes who generate it.
Actionable Insights for the 2025 Season
If you’re planning your holiday around football next year, here’s what you need to know based on the christmas football games 2024 fallout:
- Keep the Netflix Subscription: The deal runs through 2026. If you want to watch the big holiday matchups, you're going to need a login. Don't wait until kickoff to realize you've forgotten your password.
- Check the Saturday Slate: The NFL will likely continue the "Saturday to Wednesday" (or Thursday) bridge to keep players fresh. If your team is scheduled for Christmas, look at the Week 16 schedule to see how much rest they're actually getting.
- Expect a Tripleheader: With Christmas 2025 falling on a Thursday, the league is already eyeing a three-game slate. Amazon Prime will likely get in on the action alongside Netflix.
- Watch the Betting Lines on Short Weeks: Historically, underdogs or teams with strong run games (like the Ravens) perform better on short rest because complex passing schemes are harder to install in three days.
The christmas football games 2024 proved that the NFL is no longer just a Sunday habit. It's a holiday tradition that isn't going anywhere, even if it means we're all watching games on our tablets while the turkey cools. The success of the Netflix experiment means the "streaming-only" era of major sports is no longer a future threat—it’s the current reality.