People and Pop Culture
Closing Shot: A Ho Ho Ho Hoops Tradition
The NBA is set to continue its decades-long custom of Christmas Day games, with five matchups scheduled. With ratings off to a slow start this season, the league is hoping for some holiday magic to reverse that trend.
Santa won’t be the only star in uniform this Dec. 25, as LeBron James, Kawhi Leonard and others take the court.nbae / getty images
As sure as Santa comes down the chimney is the NBA’s Christmas Day tradition of showcasing the league’s star power on national TV.
The NBA playing on Dec. 25 dates back consecutively to 1947, when the Baltimore Bullets played the Chicago Stags at Baltimore Coliseum, the New York Knicks squared off against the Providence Steamrollers at Madison Square Garden, and the Washington Capitols took on the St. Louis Bombers at Saint Louis Arena.
Seventy-two years later, the Christmas matchups stand as one of the league’s tentpole events, with five games this year featuring top teams and stars playing on ABC and ESPN.
The games this year take on an even bigger significance as the league and its TV partners look to the holiday showcase to drive interest and boost national ratings that so far this year are down double digits on ESPN and Turner. ABC will use the marquee day to tip off its 2019-20 coverage.
The NBA will have five games on Christmas Day for the 12th consecutive year. The slate is highlighted by the prime-time intracity rivalry game between the Kawhi Leonard-led Los Angeles Clippers and the LeBron James-led Los Angeles Lakers, a team that will play on Christmas for the 21st consecutive year.
ESPN will present a 12-hour special called “Christmasketball” that will package the games, and the content between them, into a full-day variety show across its platforms.
“We’ve now established the tradition of Christmas being a big NBA viewing day,” said Tom Carelli, senior vice president of broadcast schedule management for the NBA, who works with teams and television partners to set the Christmas Day schedule. “You have families together and it’s a chance to project the best storylines and matchups all in one day.”
Carelli, who has been with the NBA for 29 years, is already at work to set next year’s Christmas Day schedule. “I already have dates from all the teams that we are reviewing now,” he said. “When this season starts is when I start worrying about next season.”
While ESPN and ABC clamor for the best matchups, one of the biggest factors in setting the Christmas Day schedule for Carelli comes down to arena availability. The league also works to minimize a visiting team’s travel for their Christmas Day game, and Carelli said teams have become more amenable to playing on the holiday, preferably at home.
“Now everyone wants to play on Christmas,” he said. “The teams look at it as a great opportunity.”
