LeBron James picked a fight with the NFL he was never going to win. The data has been released to prove it.
The NFL significantly outperformed the NBA in television ratings on Christmas Day, with the NFL’s two games on Netflix averaging 24 million viewers compared to the NBA’s five games, which averaged 5.25 million viewers.
Put another way, each NFL game got nearly as many viewers as all NBA games combined. (Not quite, but close enough for government work, as they say.)
The NFL’s matchup between the Ravens and Texans drew an average of 24.3 million viewers, peaking at over 27 million during Beyoncé’s halftime performance. The Chiefs-Steelers game also did well, garnering an average of 24.1 million viewers.
The two games were the most streamed in U.S. history.
Both games were blowouts, suggesting the viewership could have been even greater if the contests were close throughout all four quarters of play.
🚨Netflix NFL Christmas Gameday Viewership🚨
— NFL Media (@NFLMedia) December 26, 2024
*Unduplicated audience of nearly 65 million US viewers
*Ravens-Texans (24.3 million) & Chiefs-Steelers (24.1 million) are most-streamed NFL games in US history
*Viewership for Ravens-Texans peaked w/ Beyonce Bowl (over 27 million… pic.twitter.com/8E8bb0c3qo
NFL Torches NBA In Christmas Day Ratings
The NBA was also bragging about their ratings for Christmas Day.
The NBA’s best-rated game of the day was the Los Angeles Lakers vs. Golden State Warriors matchup, which averaged 7.76 million viewers, with a peak of 8.32 million at the game’s climax.
“The NBA delivered its most-watched Christmas Day in five years, averaging 5.25 million viewers per game in the U.S. across ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, Disney+ and ESPN+, according to Nielsen Fast Nationals,” the league said in a statement.
“Viewership was up 84% vs. last year.”
A lot of their bragging needs to be taken with a grain of salt. Last season, the NBA had to go up against three NFL games rather than two, leaving the door open later in the day as the only major sport being aired.
RELATED: As NBA Ratings Continue To Tank, LeBron James Takes Shot At NFL: ‘Christmas Is Our Day’
LeBron James Hardest Hit
Despite the NBA’s games being closely contested and featuring high-profile players, the NFL’s dominance in viewership was unchallenged.
The person who’s going to take that fact the hardest is LeBron James, who defiantly called out the NFL after his Christmas Day game.
“I love the NFL. I love the NFL. But Christmas is our day,” James told ESPN reporter Lisa Salters following the game.
LeBron to the NFL: pic.twitter.com/6rvo5OncTt
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) December 26, 2024
Narrator: It’s definitely not the NBA’s day. Not anymore.
There’s been a noted decline in the NBA’s ratings, with some sources reporting a 19% drop from the previous year through mid-December 2024, swelling to 25% when including NBA TV.
It’s so bad that Joe Mazzulla, the head coach of the reigning league champion Boston Celtics, says he doesn’t even sit down to watch games in his spare time.
Who knows? Maybe he actually decided to watch it on Christmas.
More about:NBA News
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