The Detroit Lions (10-1) host the Chicago Bears (4-7) on Thanksgiving Day at 12:30 p.m. ET on CBS, marking the Lions’ 85th Thanksgiving game since 1934. Playing their 38th Thanksgiving game, the Bears have a strong holiday history against Detroit, winning three straight matchups in 2018, 2019, and 2021. Detroit, meanwhile, seeks its first Thanksgiving win since 2016.
The Lions enter the game as the fourth team since 2000 to play on Thanksgiving with at least 10 wins, joining the 2015 Panthers and 2011 Packers. For the first time in franchise history, Detroit has firmly positioned itself as an NFC powerhouse, with back-to-back 10-win seasons.
Quarterback Jared Goff has been stellar on Thanksgiving, throwing six touchdowns without an interception across three games. He aims to join Hall of Famer Brett Favre as the only player to throw multiple touchdown passes in their first four Thanksgiving appearances.
Detroit’s ground game is also rewriting history. Running backs David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs are the first pair of teammates with at least ten rushing touchdowns each in consecutive seasons. Additionally, the Lions have scored a rushing touchdown in 25 consecutive games, an NFL record.
With their eyes on extending their dominance this season, the Lions are poised to make Thanksgiving memorable for their fans.
For years, Christmas Day has been the NBA’s biggest single day on the regular season calendar. The league builds its schedule around putting five marquee matchups on Christmas, and for a long time, they only faced NFL competition when Dec. 25 fell on a Sunday.
However, the NFL has played games on Christmas each of the past four years, and the big ratings they received were too tantalizing to go back to the way things were. After insisting that they wouldn’t put games on Christmas when it lands on a Tuesday or Wednesday, the NFL changed course when Netflix came calling, offering hundreds of millions of dollars to broadcast a pair of NFL Christmas games each of the next three years. That was the NFL officially ending their détente with the NBA over Christmas, and making clear that they weren’t going to cede the holiday back to basketball.
If that wasn’t enough, the NFL decided to run up the score on the NBA over the weekend, announcing late Sunday night that Beyoncé will perform at halftime of the Ravens-Texans game in her hometown of Houston. The one thing the NBA has going for it over the NFL on Christmas is that they are on linear television, with games on ABC and ESPN, while the NFL is on a streamer (albeit the largest one there is). As we have seen with Thursday Night Football and playoff games on Peacock, there is a pretty sizable drop-off in viewership for similar marquee NFL games from linear TV to streaming. However, the way to get more people over there is to give the non-football fans a reason to want to tune-in, and a Beyoncé halftime show is a sure-fire way to add some serious attention.
NBA fans and media have called on the league to fight back and reclaim their place as the Christmas headliner, but the truth is, there’s just nothing to do when the NFL decides to plant its flag. The NBA could put together its absolute best teams and have every star healthy, get Drake and Kendrick Lamar to squash their beef at midcourt during halftime, and they would barely put a dent in the ratings for the worst possible NFL game. Add in the fact that the NFL has a pair of really good games this year — Chiefs-Steelers and Ravens-Texans — and there’s just no chance for the NBA to get its corner fully back.
Being able to add a Super Bowl-caliber halftime performer (Beyoncé literally did one back in 2013) to the Christmas slate is just another example of the NFL’s embarrassment of riches. Could the NBA try and do more to add some cultural cache to their Christmas games? Sure, they could look at adding a performer in one of the marquee games, but halftime in NBA games is shorter than in the NFL, limiting the time on a performance (and for a performance set-up). That limits what you can do, and they’re just not going to get someone at the level of Beyoncé in that same spot — it doesn’t hurt the NFL that Beyoncé’s husband, Jay-Z curates the NFL’s Super Bowl halftime shows.
The reality is, the NBA can’t consider the NFL a direct competitor and instead needs to figure out how they can best serve the audience that would pick watching basketball over football. There is nowhere to hide from the NFL at this point. If there is money to be made and ratings to be had, the NFL has made it very clear they will be there to scoop up as much cash and as many eyeballs as they can. The NBA has tried moving off Thursdays until the NFL season ends, and held off on marquee showcase games on weekends until after football — it’s just not worth trying to challenge the NFL’s ratings superiority, particularly when there are nights when the NFL doesn’t air games. The question for the NBA now has to be, will they let their Christmas schedule become the latest casualty?
They still have some advantages in being on ABC and ESPN rather than Netflix, but the NFL moving off TV also makes it harder to benefit from the potential for fans to bounce back-and-forth because that involves the added barrier of exiting one app and opening another. As such, the best way forward isn’t to try and beat the NFL at their own game, as that’s not possible. Instead, the NBA has to keep looking at how to create the best basketball product and present that to their audience, while figuring out how to sustainably build their fan base.
The NFL, put simply, doesn’t have to worry about the same things the NBA does right now. They can send a Giants-Panthers game, featuring two of the worst teams in the league, overseas and sell it out while millions stateside wake up and tune in. They can withstand injuries and star absences and still clean up, as tens of millions of people are going to watch Cooper Rush vs. Tommy DeVito on Thanksgiving, while the NBA faces huge backlash for the same thing.
That’s because football is king in the United States. For as much as people want to come up with a magic fix that will make the NBA suddenly explode in popularity to be alongside the NFL, that just doesn’t exist because they aren’t playing football. As such, all they can do is focus on themselves and figure out what they can do to make the product as appealing as they can, with a focus on those who want to watch basketball. They can still go up against the NFL and do well on Christmas — last year was the least-watched NBA Christmas on record, and it was still their biggest viewership day of the season. The real challenge is how they build their basketball base, because you aren’t going to win a battle for casual eyeballs going up against the NFL, and especially the NFL plus Beyoncé.
As such, the NBA has to ignore the proverbial scoreboard between them and the NFL on Christmas. It’s a fight they will never win, but also, it doesn’t have to be viewed as a fight, even though on Dec. 26, there will inevitably be dozens of posts about how the NFL dusted the NBA in ratings, with a massive peak surely coming around the time of Beyoncé’s performance. But the NBA just can’t worry about that, because the NFL beats everyone and everything in the ratings game.
Instead, they have to keep the focus on the basketball and what they can do to get the best product on the court, all while accepting that the NFL is a ratings behemoth and adjusting expectations accordingly. There isn’t a quick fix that suddenly closes that gap, but one also shouldn’t be seen as necessary from the league’s point of view, because they have an 11-year, $76 billion national TV deal locked in. ESPN will certainly want to explore avenues to boost viewership — that’s their job — but the league should be taking the long view here, and that means ignoring the idea that they should be competing in the same weight class as the NFL and figuring out instead how to entertain basketball fans.
Once the NFL season ends, the NBA still becomes the biggest game in town. It doesn’t pull in football numbers (because, again, nothing does), but the Finals still pull in 10+ million viewers a game even in a down year, and there’s plenty of interest in the playoffs. I’m loathe to agree with arguments that the sky is falling and the NBA is in some terrible position in terms of people not wanting to watch basketball anymore. That said, if they are going to keep an 82-game schedule (which naturally makes each game less intriguing than a 17-game schedule like the NFL has where, every game feels vital to your chances at the playoffs) that starts in football season, they have to figure out how to raise the value of those games for the viewer, and that starts with raising their value to the players.
The NBA Cup is a great example of that, as they’ve gotten the buy-in from the players necessary to give November and December basketball some stakes that it previously lacked, and the result has been really fun basketball. The Christmas Day games also still matter to players, even if they’re no longer in a complete standalone spot on the sports calendar, but the truth is, the NBA has to be even smarter about who they put on the Christmas schedule. They can’t risk a repeat of last year’s Heat-Sixers game without Joel Embiid or Jimmy Butler, which made that the least-watched Christmas game in history, and this year they seem to have learned a lesson, pairing a team whose interest is driven by a single star (the Spurs with Victor Wembanyama) against a legacy franchise (the Knicks) that have a built-in floor for viewership.
I also think the NBA can look at this as an opportunity now to take some swings, knowing the NFL is going to hold casual eyeballs, and give some up-and-coming teams (say, the Thunder) a little bit of shine in hopes of delivering better games. Bank on better basketball to bring people in, rather than just hoping for star power, especially as the generation led by LeBron James, Steph Curry, and Kevin Durant that has always been able to bring in eyeballs ages out. And of course, try to provide a highly-competitive game for your basketball diehards to enjoy, because who knows? If the NFL game is a dud, you might even get people flipping over once Beyoncé steps off the stage.
Beyoncé will headline Netflix’s inaugural NFL Christmas Gameday this Christmas with a special live performance during the second of the platform’s two marquee games. The Houston Texans will host the Baltimore Ravens at NRG Stadium at 4:30 PM ET on December 25, setting the stage for a hometown performance by the global icon.
The event, produced by Parkwood Entertainment and Jesse Collins Entertainment, will feature the first live renditions of songs from Beyoncé’s groundbreaking and record-breaking album, COWBOY CARTER. Recently earning 11 Grammy nominations, the album is now the most-nominated project by a female artist in Grammy history.
Trailer for Beyoncé’s NFL Halftime Show at the Ravens vs Texans game on Christmas Day. pic.twitter.com/RRdo0N10m6
Beyoncé’s NFL appearances are already legendary, including her 2013 Super Bowl XLVII halftime show, where she reunited with Destiny’s Child in a performance that became the second-most-watched halftime show of its time. She returned in 2016 for Super Bowl 50, joining Coldplay and Bruno Mars in a show watched by 115.5 million viewers.
The Netflix Christmas Gameday begins a new holiday tradition, with the streaming platform announcing NFL games for 2025 and 2026. The first game will feature the Kansas City Chiefs facing the Pittsburgh Steelers at 1 PM ET, followed by the Texans-Ravens matchup.
While details of Beyoncé’s performance remain secret, fans can expect appearances from special guests featured on COWBOY CARTER. The event will be available to stream globally on Netflix, while local broadcasts and NFL+ will carry the games in the competing team cities.
With Netflix, the NFL, and Beyoncé joining forces, this Christmas promises an unforgettable blend of sports and entertainment.
Beyonce will be headlining a halftime show for the matchup between the Baltimore Ravens and Houston Texans on Christmas Day, next month. Netflix announced the performance in a post on social media on Sunday night. Along with the announcement, Netflix shared a video of Beyonce with her song, “AMERIICAN REQUIEM,” playing in the background. It will be the streaming service’s first day hosting an NFL game.
The announcement has fans on social media stoked. “GIRL I JUST WOKE UP THE WHOLE NEIGHBORHOOD SCREAMING,” one user wrote in response to the news on Instagram. Another added: “One thing this woman gone do is DROP something outta nowhere and have the internet going up.”
Beyonce Performs During The Super Bowl 50 Halftime Show
Feb 7, 2016; Santa Clara, CA, USA; Recording artist Beyonce performs during the halftime show for Super Bowl 50 with the Denver Broncos playing against the Carolina Panthers at Levi’s Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports via Imagn Images
Netflix’s Christmas Day slate of NFL games comes after the streaming service hosted the live fight between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul on Friday night. That experience didn’t go over well for many users on social media who have complained about buffering and lag issues. In response to Beyonce’s announcement, one user on Instagram wrote: “Netflix just proved they can’t handle a boxing match. they wanna try this? I mean i’m gonna watch but fix your stuff first!” In addition to Texans-Ravens, Netflix will also air the earlier game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Beyonce Will Perform On Christmas Day
It’s not Beyonce’s first time working with the NFL. She previously performed at the Super Bowl Halftime Show in 2016. Additionally, her husband, JAY-Z, now helps the league choose headliners for the event. In other NFL news, Kendrick Lamar will be headlining the Super Bowl Halftime Show, this season. Check out Netflix’s announcement below.
The NFL has started to have a larger and larger presence on Christmas Day over the years. This season, the league will put a pair of marquee games on Dec. 25, as the Kansas City Chiefs will travel to Pittsburgh to Take on the Steelers in the 1 p.m window, while the Houston Texans will play host to the Baltimore Ravens at 4:30 p.m. ET.
Late on Sunday night, the NFL decided to announce that it has something special up its sleeve for the late afternoon game, as it was revealed that Beyonce will perform at halftime in her hometown.
There’s no word on whether the league has a similarly huge name lined up for the early game, but lining up Beyonce — who headlined the Super Bowl halftime show back in 2013 — for a performance during a showcase game like this makes a ton of sense.
Of course, there is a potential problem that will be monitored throughout the Christmas Day schedule, as the games will be aired on Netflix, which just struggled mightily with its broadcast of the boxing match between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul. Adding Beyonce to what will already be a highly-anticipated NFL game should only bring more eyeballs onto the platform, and there’s going to be a whole lot of interest in whether or not Netflix will be able to keep up with the demand.
Lil Wayne isn’t this season’s Super Bowl Halftime Show performer, but the NFL announced he would be the weekly guest on the NFL GameDay Morning show. A known football fanatic, Weezy’s new job will team him with popular football correspondents to discuss weekly matchups and more. The GameDay crew includes Rich Eisen, Kurt Warner, Steve Mariucci, Gerald McCoy, Ian Rapoport, Cynthia Frelund, Colleen Wolfe, Mike Garafolo, Tom Pelissero, Daniel Jeremiah and Kyle Brandt, along with various NFL Network reporters, including Judy Battista, Bridget Condon, Stacey Dales, Omar Ruiz, Jane Slater, Sara Walsh, Cameron Wolfe and Steve Wyche.
Lil Wayne joins the NFL’s new international expansion, which promoted the rap star during an international game in Germany. Wayne’s connection with the NFL began in 2009 via ESPN Magazine. In 2016, his hit song “No Mercy” became the official theme for the sports talk show Skip and Shannon: Undisputed. Weezy often appeared on the show to discuss his favorite teams, the Green Bay Packers and the Los Angeles Lakers. During a guest appearance, he caused controversy with an “All Lives Matter” comment.
Lil Wayne responded to snubb. After the announcement, Wayne took to social media to express his disappointment and thank his fans for their unwavering support and outcry. In the Instagram video, he said: “That hurt.”Hurt a lot. You know what I’m talking about? It hurt a whole lot. And for just automatically mentally putting myself in that position like somebody had told me that was my position.”
At Lil Weezyana Fest, Weezy spoke on the Super Bowl again after reuniting with the Hot Boys. “I said to myself, ‘I want to be onstage for the Super Bowl one day, in front of my mom,” he said to the crowd. “And I worked my a** off to get that f**kin’ position. It was ripped away from me.” New Orleans would pay their respect to Weezy by issuing him the Key to the City and two official days.
Jason Kelce is more popular on a national scale now than he ever was as an All-Pro center with the Philadelphia Eagles — although, his Super Bowl parade performance cemented his status as a Philly legend. Kelce is on ESPN’s Monday Night Countdown now and has a wildly popular podcast with his brother Travis, as the brothers have seen their stardom leap from the sports world to pop culture in general, due in no small part to Travis’ relationship with Taylor Swift that has brought her legions of fans to them.
While there are the obvious benefits of that popularity in the form of massive media deals, there are also the trappings of fame that come with the territory of being immediately recognizable to most any person. On Saturday, Jason was reminded of that when he was in State College for Ohio State-Penn State and had a heckler call Travis a gay slur for dating Swift while holding his phone out recording. That jackass was seeking a reaction and got one in the form of Jason grabbing his phone and spiking it on the ground, with videos from other nearby going viral immediately.
On Monday night, Kelce addressed the incident at the top of Monday Night Countdown and issued an apology, noting that’s not how he wants to act and that he doesn’t want to “greet hate with hate.”
Jason Kelce opens “Monday Night Countdown” with an apology.
“I chose to greet hate with hate, and I just don’t think that’s a productive thing.” pic.twitter.com/9rScqAKpVD
The truth is, the majority of people saw him spike the phone and felt that was an extremely reasonable response, as we need to remind people that there are real consequences to saying vile things — something the internet has made far too easy to do with no repercussions. Still, Kelce felt bad enough about it to issue an apology on national television and seemed very genuinely upset by his own actions, even if the majority of people saw them as defensible.
Darren Waller seems to be all about sharing his personal bouts with his fans because he’s doing just that on Internal Warfare: This Too Shall Pass. It’s his newest EP of 2024, and it boasts four tracks, and one lead single. The latter is “This Too Shall Pass,” which sees the ex-NFL star sing and rap passionately over a moody and forlorn beat about his struggles. However, on the uplifting chorus, he knows that things are going to improve over time. It’s also a message to his supporters and it feels like a real heart-to-heart moment on the record.
All of the themes and messages present on Internal Wafare really evoke a quote that Waller had in a recent press release. He says, “The title of this project accurately depicts what 2024 has been like for me. Lots of change has brought about all kinds of thoughts, emotions, and mood swings that have been overwhelming at times. At the same time, those have made room for greater clarity, allowing me to see all the good in my life and to know I’m right where I’m supposed to be.” There has definitely been a lot of moving pieces for Waller this year, as he shockingly retired from professional football after just nine years and also divorced from WNBA star Kelsey Plum following a year of marriage. These are major life shifts, but he’s battled tested and confident that he’s moving in the right direction on this EP.
This Christmas, Netflix is bringing the excitement of NFL football straight to your home! On December 25, 2024, fans will get to enjoy two marquee matchups as part of an exciting holiday tradition.
First up, the reigning Super Bowl LVII champions, the Kansas City Chiefs, will face off against the Pittsburgh Steelers at 1 PM ET. Following that, at 4:30 PM ET, the Baltimore Ravens will take on the Houston Texans.
For the first time ever, Netflix will serve as the global home for these NFL Christmas Day games, delivering the holiday action right to your screens.
Grab your favorite snacks, gather your loved ones, and get ready for an unforgettable Christmas Day filled with football!
Jay-Z has become a major figure in the NFL in recent years, ever since he took the reigns on deciding who performs at the Super Bowl Halftime Shows. The NFL is apparently pleased with how this professional relationship has worked out, as Jay and the league have reportedly agreed to extend their deal. This is according to a new Bloomberg report (as XXL notes).
The the NFL owners meeting in Atlanta on October 15, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said, “It’s been a mutually positive relationship. I’m not sure either one of us really spend much time talking about contracts. Jay is happy. [Roc Nation CEO] Desiree Perez is happy. I’m happy, so we’re all good.”
It’s not currently clear how much the new deal is worth. Per ESPN, though, the original deal was worth $25 million over five years.
Kendrick Lamar is set to headline the 2024 halftime show, and Jay said of that pick, “Kendrick Lamar is truly a once-in-a-generation artist and performer. His deep love for hip-hop and culture informs his artistic vision. He has an unparalleled ability to define and influence culture globally. Kendrick’s work transcends music, and his impact will be felt for years to come.”
