The Pittsburgh Steelers hosted the Kansas City Chiefs this past season on a Christmas Day game, falling on a Wednesday. Given the contortions the NFL pulled to finagle such a thing, it’s safe to say that Christmas Day games are here to say. And so, too, believes The Athletic reporter Mike DeFabo, is the Steelers’ presence on such days.
Speaking on 93.7 The Fan recently, DeFabo talked about the Steelers’ efforts to expand their brand. That includes their recent campaign to host the first NFL regular-season game in Ireland, which is finally official. “They are one of the premiere teams in the league, even if their performance in the playoffs doesn’t suggest that”, he argued.
“I think you’re only gonna see more international games. I think you’re gonna see the Steelers, they’re gonna play on Thanksgiving, they’re gonna play on Christmas all the time”, he continued. “Now that the Christmas game was so widely successful, I feel like that’s going to become a regular thing. I could see the Steelers playing in that every couple of years”.
This infuriates me, personally, and I’ve expressed my thoughts on the idea before. Many fans will embrace the opportunity to watch the Steelers on Christmas Day. The NFL is counting on as much and has no qualms about taking on the NBA for holiday territory.
Unfortunately, I’m inclined to agree with DeFabo’s observations here. The NFL will be playing two or three games on Christmas for many years to come, no matter how much rigamarole is necessary to work it out. And the Steelers, regardless of their on-field results, still produce ratings.
No doubt many fans would welcome DeFabo’s speculation coming to fruition. There is a reason the NFL has had a Thanksgiving Day tradition for so many years, and to be fair, it’s only natural that they would eventually horn in on Christmas. As the Steelers found out, the only complication is that Christmas often doesn’t fall on a “safe” football day. However, the only atypical football days are Tuesday and Wednesday. Sunday, Monday, and Thursday games are common, and Friday and Saturday are not a stretch. But Tuesdays and Wednesdays make for profoundly awkward gerrymandering to accommodate.
When it comes to driving in more revenue, though, the NFL has no problem putting in that work. With that said, the next Christmas to fall on a Tuesday or Wednesday is 2034, and the next after that is 2063. So the Steelers won’t have to have too screwed up of a schedule the next time they play on Christmas. Small victories, I suppose.
