Wednesday is not typically one of the days of the week that is associated with the NFL. But in the league’s attempt to monopolize the American sports industry, they’ll be stealing some of the shine from the NBA this year during Christmas Day.
NFL To Play On Wednesday For Third Time Ever
The NFL is generally predictable with their scheduling. There is of course the traditional Sunday slate followed by a Monday Night Football game, and Thursday night games have been a weekly occurrence since 2006. During the last few weeks of a typical season, there will be a handful of games that are featured on Saturdays.
BEYONCÉ. Halftime of @Ravens vs. @HoustonTexans!
Kickoff at 4:30PM ET. Christmas Day on Netflix #NFLonNetflix pic.twitter.com/uiQyVwwEH3
— NFL (@NFL) December 11, 2024
Wednesday usually serves as a buffer zone between scheduling weeks in the NFL, but not for next week. For just the third time in the modern history of the league, a game will be played on a Wednesday. Two of them, in fact, as the Chiefs will take on the Steelers and the Ravens will visit the Texans on Christmas Day.
Week 17’s action actually takes place on five different days within a six-day span, as we will also see the regular Thursday/Sunday/Monday action, with three games taking place on Saturday as well.
The last time an NFL game was played on a Wednesday was in 2020. Due to a COVID-19 outbreak, a Steelers vs. Ravens contest was delayed two different times, and ended up being played on the Wednesday after Thanksgiving. The time before that was back in 2012, when the opening game of the season was moved away from Thursday night in order to avoid competition with Barack Obama’s speech at the Democratic National Convention.
The NFL is LIVE on Netflix. This Christmas!
Wednesday December 25
Chiefs vs. Steelers at 1 PM ET
Ravens vs. Texans at 4:30 PM ET pic.twitter.com/gl7nN57CnL— Netflix (@netflix) October 20, 2024
That’s it. Those are the only other times in modern NFL history in which games were played on Hump Day. It was much more common back in earlier days, as there were 38 Wednesday games featured between 1925 and 1940. This was of course during a time when teams like the St. Louis Gunners and Boston Redskins were in existence. The last Wednesday game before 2012 took place in 1948, which was the first time that a team put a logo on their helmet.
In order to make the scheduling work, all four teams that are playing on Christmas Day are playing on Saturday the week prior. Netflix will be the streaming service that will feature the games during the holiday.
