The NFL has been dominating national television broadcasts for quite some time. When they scheduled two prime games for their Christmas Day specials to be aired on Netflix, the NBA was not happy. Face of the NBA LeBron James had to hype up his league in the face of a battle for viewership.
After his Christmas Day headliner against arch-rival Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors, he claimed that the day belonged to the NBA. He did mention that he loves the NFL, but Christmas Day has always been the NBA’s playground.
However, basketball fans had to wait until the evening to catch basketball games. During the day, it was the NFL’s turn to shine as first the Kansas City Chiefs played against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Then the Baltimore Ravens played the Houston Texans.
Chiefs star tight end Travis Kelce, and his older brother Jason Kelce had LeBron James as their latest guest on their podcast New Heights. When asked about his claim about Christmas being the NBA’s day, he laughed and replied.
Bron was defending the NBA, but even he knows who really owns Christmas pic.twitter.com/806qpgU9yd
— New Heights (@newheightshow) January 15, 2025
The Los Angeles Lakers superstar then went on to say that despite the numbers, both the NFL games were disappointing. However, when Beyonce headlines the half-time show and Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce play, it usually results in those one-sided numbers.
LeBron James admits he had to side with the NBA
The NFL recorded an average of 24.2 million viewers from both the games. In comparison, five NBA games played out with a lot of stars in action, and they combined to record 25.8 million viewers. Which meant, LeBron James and his peers could just overcome one NFL game. He went on to say this on New Heights.
The four-time NBA champion seemingly agreed that he had to side towards the NBA. He words indicate he knew all too well that when facing the NFL and the star-studded teams that were playing, the NBA stood no chance.
The marketing and favorable timings were always going to push the NFL into more homes than basketball. Additionally, the overall state of play in the NBA has seen viewership decline year on year. Therefore, they were in no shape to take on the might of the NFL.