NFL at Christmas: Matches, schedule, history and music performances

Christmas Day matches have become a staple of the NFL calendar with the league staging at least one game on the holiday since 2020.

In 2024 we were treated to a marquee double-header with Netflix launching the first-ever NFL Christmas Gameday, with both matches featuring a pregame and postgame show along with live music performances.

Here's everything you need to know about the NFL on Christmas Day.

NFL at Christmas matches

Christmas Day served two blockbusters in the NFL, starting with the defending champions Kansas City Chiefs heading to western Pennsylvania to face AFC North leaders Pittsburgh Steelers.

That was followed by a fascinating matchup between the Houston Texans and Baltimore Ravens at the NRG Stadium.

NFL at Christmas schedule

The popularity of Christmas matches has increased the regularity of fixtures, with the NFL proposing a schedule which ensures any match doesn't cross over.

In 2024, the Chiefs and Steelers kicked off the Christmas Day action, with the Ravens and Texans squaring off immediately after the action in Pittsburgh concludes.

NFL at Christmas history

The first NFL game to be played on Christmas Day happened following the league's merger in the 1971/72 season as the Dallas Cowboys met the Minnesota Vikings in a divisional round clash.

It wasn't the only match to be played on Christmas Day that year with the Miami Dolphins and Kansas City Chiefs also in playoff action, a contest that's been etched into the record books as the longest game in NFL history.

As a result, the league received a catalogue of complaints and the NFL did not schedule another match on Christmas Day until 1989. Pushing the regular season back by a week, the Cincinnati Bengals' fixture with the Minnesota Vikings was staged at 21:00 ET, with the league's hierarchy refraining from scheduling a fixture in the afternoon on the holiday.

2004 marked the first time in 33 years that two games were played on Christmas Day. In 2022, the NFL put on a triple-header across each Sunday network (Fox, CBS and NBC) and repeated it again in 2023.

A total of 32 matches have been played on Christmas Day.

NFL at Christmas music performances

As if two tantalising matches were not enough, Netflix's coverage of the NFL on Christmas Day in 2024 was supplemented by two live music performances.

Ahead of the Steelers v Chiefs, Mariah Carey opened the show with a performance of her record-breaking single, "All I Want for Christmas Is You".

Later in the day, Beyonce took centre stage at half-time during the Texans v Ravens fixture as she delivered a debut live performance of songs from her album Cowboy Carter.

No stranger to the NFL having headlined the championship match in 2013, Beyonce introduced special guests during the show in Houston.