NFL vs NBA Christmas viewership: Startling difference shows which league is still the king

Even though Lakers star LeBron James claimed that the NBA owned Christmas most fans tuned into watch Patrick Mahomes and Lamar Jackson's Chiefs and Ravens games, drawing more than 20 million viewers each game.

NFL vs NBA Christmas viewership: Startling difference shows which league is still the king

Patrick Mahomes (Image via IMAGO)

LeBron James– take a backseat because Patrick Mahomes and Lamar Jackson of the NFL won Christmas. Even though the legendary basketball player claimed that Christmas belongs to the NBA, viewers tuned in to watch the special doubleheader on Netflix.

The Los Angeles Lakers star said he loves football, but most fans waited to watch them take on Steph Curry’s Golden State Warriors. The reality couldn’t be far from the truth.

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According to The 33rd Team’s NFL expert, Ari Meirov, the two NFL games (Chiefs-Steelers and Ravens-Texans) witnessed an average viewership four times that of their NBA counterparts.

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The NFL games’ viewership on NETFLIX: Chiefs-Steelers: 24.1M; Ravens-Texans: 24.3M.

The NBA game’s viewership was: New York Knicks-San Antonio Spurs: 4.9M, Boston Celtics-Philadelphia 76ers: 5.1M, Minnesota Timberwolves-Dallas Mavericks: 4.3M, Los Angeles Lakers-Golden State Warriors: 7.7M, Denver Nuggets-Phoenix Suns: 3.8M.

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NFL reigns supreme on Christmas

Christmas and football have been synonymous for a while and for a good reason. That’s because fans not only get the chance to witness their favorite athletes in action, but they also enjoy the various performances from guest stars.

NFL vs NBA Christmas viewership Startling difference shows which league is still the king
Lamar Jackson (Image via IMAGO)

Wednesday on Netflix kicked off with Voices of Service, a quartet featuring retired military veterans, who sang the national anthem before the Chiefs-Steelers game at Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh. It was followed by Mariah Carey’s Christmas staple, ‘All I Want for Christmas Is You‘. Not to mention the swashbuckling football, which ended in a 29-10 victory for the Chiefs, who improved to 15-1 for the season while the Steelers dropped to 10-6.

Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes announced that he wanted to wrap the AFC Top Seed up quickly so that his wife could give birth to their third child during the bye week in January. Travis Kelce dug his teeth into the special Christmas cake shaped like a football but missed his girlfriend Taylor Swift in the stadium.

After a brief pause, viewers switched their attention 1300 miles to Texas’ NRG Stadium, where the Texans took on the Baltimore Ravens. Grammy-winning group Pentatonix, comprised of Scott Hoying, Mitch Grassi, Kirstin Maldonado, Kevin Olusola, and Matt Sallee, won everyone’s hearts with their rendition of the National Anthem.

Then during halftime, when the Ravens led 17, Beyoncé and her group performed hit tracks from her “Cowboy Carter” album. Jackson must have snuck in a peek to see one of his favorite artists perform live as he had promised.

Eventually, Jackson’s 168 yards, 2 touchdowns, and 149.91 quarterback rating performance were enough to see off a helpless Texans team that only had two points on the night, and that too was a safety. The game ended 31-2 with Jackson reaching unprecedented speeds.

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With such a success, the NFL committee will more than likely continue to collaborate with Netflix despite its poor viewing experiences.