Despite their overtures to the league, the NFL likely won’t make the Kansas City Chiefs a permanent fixture on Christmas Day.
Appearing on the It’s Always Gameday in Buffalo podcast, the NFL’s VP of broadcast planning and scheduling, Mike North, was asked about the Chiefs’ recent request to become the Christmas version of the Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving.
“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.”
The Chiefs might seem like an attractive option to slot in as a permanent Christmas Day fixture now, but that won’t always be the case. One day, as much as Kansas City fans might not want to hear this, Patrick Mahomes will not be behind center. The Chiefs may no longer be a perennial Super Bowl contender. So why would the league box themselves into one team on Christmas every year when they don’t have to?
“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 definitely wise for the league to preserve this flexibility. For years, the Lions were an absolute abomination on Thanksgiving Day, only recently having redeemed themselves with some actually good football teams. But why would the league want to tie its wagon to one team, when it could simply always schedule the best teams in the league for Christmas Day?
With holiday viewing becoming ever more important for the league, with Thanksgiving and Christmas typically attracting some of its largest audiences of the year, it’s best to schedule premier teams rather than starting a silly new tradition.
About Drew Lerner
Drew Lerner is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and an aspiring cable subscriber. He previously covered sports media for Sports Media Watch. Future beat writer for the Oasis reunion tour.