For nearly a century, the NBA has held games on December 25, Christmas Day. An important sporting and economic event for American basketball.
It’s good ? Have you collected all the wrapping paper under the tree? It’s time to finish the cookies under a plaid while you watch the golgoths in shorts sweating profusely. Because in the United States, basketball doesn’t stop on December 25. On the contrary: it is one of their biggest meetings every year. The NBA is programming dream signs there. A 75-year tradition with multiple challenges.
Why did the NBA get cozy on Christmas 1947? The reason is to be found in its great rival, the NFL (American football league) which, in the 1920s, appropriated Thanksgiving Day, a holiday almost as important as Christmas in the United States. The NBA also wanted its date. Today “It is a tradition that is, we are not going to lie to ourselves, 100% commercial and marketing“, deciphers Rémi Reverchon, flagship journalist for beIN Sports, NBA broadcaster in France.
Christmas and NBA, an association rooted in fans
Not to mention the highlight of clothing and derived products, the NBA takes advantage of the fact that nobody (or almost, because the NFL comes to joke) plays on December 25 to monopolize the spotlight by programming 5 games.
“We found the almost 10 best teams of the seasonemphasizes Rémi Reverchon. I feel like the NBA has managed to ingrain this day of high level basketball into the Christmas culture.“Because for the fans, it is”a key date, a stageof the NBA season, endorses Rémi Reverchon. And for the players, it’s an honor to play on December 25.
Players benefit sportingly… and financially
“When I was younger, I would watch Christmas play as a reward.said Doc Rivers, then the coach of the Boston Celtics, in 2009.It means that we are part of the good teams.Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard agreed.
Some also sometimes complained. “The NBA is the first league that had the courage to ask its players, that is, specifically its employees, to play on Christmas Day, which is still a traditionally sacred holiday for the vast majority. of the planet», says Rémi Reverchon. In general, basketball stars are no stranger to the generated benefits that they also enjoy, so they validate them.
The result is a unique day: a first game at 6:00 p.m. French time (12:00 p.m. New York time) and four others that each follow their turn in an evening that ends around 7:00 a.m. in France. At beIN Sports, where journalists and consultants alternate on the air for more than thirteen hours, it’s not a vacation.
An “antenna marathon” for beIN Sports
“It’s a big fire, but it’s honestly the best day of the year to work in the NBA.savor Rémi Reverchon. We have such an antenna marathon that it allows us, in the end, to be very relaxed. We eat on a tray, everyone brings their cookies, their blog, whatever they want.In total, no fewer than 38 beIN Sports employees will be on deck this Sunday, including 16 at the editorial level (anchors, commentators, editors, etc.)
This Sunday, lovers of the orange ball will see in action, among others, the genius Luka Doncic and his Dallas Mavericks against the Los Angeles Lakers of the eternal LeBron James (8:30 p.m.). But also the two leaders of the Eastern Conference, the Boston Celtics and the Milwaukee Bucks (11:00 p.m.). Or, as an aperitif at 6:00 p.m., the timeless New York Knicks at home, against the Philadelphia Sixers and their Franco-Cameroonian center, Joel Embiid. And above all, Merry Christmas.
