Getting eyeballs in front of the TV is the name of the game.
Christmas Day is the annual National Basketball Association coming out party and this Christmas Day, the NBA is offering five contests on cable and over-the-air TV whether the players like it or not. Until recently, the NBA owned Christmas Day TV sports but the National Football League is now offering holiday games and viewers will have to pay for the games as the two contests will be Netflix only affairs. Reportedly Netflix is paying the NFL $150 million for the two contests. Christmas is just another day. There are games to be played and audiences that want them. But sports is entertainment and if movie theaters are open and showing new films, why not have sports events?
The NBA usually features top matchups made for TV and it really kicks off the season even though about a third of the year has already been played. The games are all available on both ESPN and ABC. San Antonio and New York start the day’s action followed by Minnesota and Dallas, then in game three of the day, Philadelphia and Boston. Game 4 is the prime time game featuring LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers against Golden State. The final game features Phoenix and Denver. The NBA will have as many stars on display as possible. Usually, the NBA is pretty much the only game in town on Christmas Day but that changed recently as the NFL, which shied away from Christmas Day games, is taking Netflix’s money and showing a Kansas City-Pittsburgh contest followed by a Baltimore-Houston matchup. There is an entertainment component as well. Beyoncé will be the halftime performer during the Ravens-Texans game in Houston. Sports never takes a holiday off. Everyday a sports league is not in the public eye is a day lost where revenues can be made.
Evan Weiner’s books are available at iTunes – https://books.apple.com/us/author/evan-weiner/id595575191
Evan can be reached at evan_weiner@hotmail.com
