LeBron James and the NBA will have to make room for the NFL on Christmas.
That shouldn’t be a problem. Both leagues were winners on Wednesday.
Netflix set records as the most-streamed NFL games in U.S. history, while the NBA had its best holiday numbers in five years, according to Nielsen.
The NFL and Nielsen said 65 million U.S. viewers tuned in for at least one minute of one of the two NFL games.
The Baltimore Ravens’ 31-2 victory over the Houston Texans averaged 24.3 million, while the Kansas City Chiefs’ 29-10 road win over the Pittsburgh Steelers averaged 24.1, according to early viewer figures Nielsen released Thursday.
The NBA’s five-game slate averaged about 5.25 million viewers per game across ABC, ESPN and its platforms, according to the league and Nielsen.
“I love the NFL,” James jokingly said in his televised postgame interview Wednesday night. “But Christmas is our day.”
However, Wednesday’s ratings showed there is room for both.
Even though the NBA had the sports calendar to itself on Dec. 25 for many years, the NFL has made Christmas one of its tentpole events during the regular season, joining Kickoff Weekend and Thanksgiving.
Hans Schroeder, the executive vice president of NFL Media, took James’ comments in jest while also being joyful about the first season of the league’s three-year partnership with Netflix.
“The numbers speak for themselves and LeBron can have his own view, and I’m sure more people will look at that because of this,” he said. “But, you know, we’re focused on the NFL and we’re thrilled with the results this year with the Christmas on Netflix and we’re excited to continue to build that over the next couple of years.”
Both NFL games surpassed the previous mark of 23 million for last season’s AFC wild-card game between the Miami Dolphins and Chiefs on Peacock.
The viewer figures include the audience on Netflix, mobile viewership on NFL+ and those who tuned in on CBS stations in Pittsburgh, Kansas City, Baltimore and Houston.
Global ratings and final U.S. numbers are expected to be available Tuesday.
The NFL’s Christmas numbers decreased from last season but not at the rate that usually happens when programming goes from broadcast to streaming.
Last year’s three games averaged 28.68 million viewers. The early afternoon game between the Las Vegas Raiders and Chiefs led the way, averaging 29.48 million on CBS.
Once global and Netflix’s first-party data is released, both Christmas games are expected to surpass 30 million.
The games were the second- and third-most popular live titles in Netflix history, surpassed only by the Nov, 14 fight between Jake Paul and Mike Tyson. That bout averaged a worldwide audience of 60 million and peaked at 65 million concurrent streams, including 38 million concurrent streams in the United States.
There will be at least two NFL games on Christmas next year, but with the holiday falling on a Thursday it is more likely to be three with two in the afternoon and one in prime time. The NFL has had three Thanksgiving Day games since 2006.
One of the biggest wins for Netflix on Wednesday: fewer streaming complaints received. It seems the only gripe from most was that the stream did not immediately go to live action if someone tuned in after the game started.
Bela Bajaria, Netflix’s chief content officer, said in a statement about the Christmas broadcasts that the streaming service is thankful for the partnership with the NFL, the on-air talent, and “let’s please not forget the electrifying Beyoncé and the brilliant Mariah Carey.”
Beyoncé’s performance was trending number one worldwide socially on X, formerly known as Twitter. The hashtag #NFLonNetflix also trended around the world, reaching a peak of second in Australia, third in the United Kingdom and Germany, fifth in Brazil and France and sixth in the U.S.
The NBA felt it had a banner day, announcing Thursday that all five Christmas games on its schedule — the San Antonio Spurs at the New York Knicks in Victor Wembanyama’s holiday debut, the Minnesota Timberwolves at the Dallas Mavericks, the Philadelphia 76ers at the Boston Celtics, the Denver Nuggets at the Phoenix Suns and the Los Angeles Lakers at the Golden State Warriors — saw year-over-year viewership increases.
The NBA’s lineup saw an 84% rise over 2023. One reason for the increase is all five games were on ABC, compared with two last year.
The Lakers’ 115-113 victory over the Warriors — a game pitting Olympic teammates James and Stephen Curry — averaged 7.76 million viewers and peaked with about 8.32 million viewers toward the end of the game, the league said.
Those numbers represent the most-watched NBA regular-season game in five years.
Wednesday’s numbers pushed NBA viewership for the season across ESPN platforms to up 4% over last season. The league also saw more than 500 million video views on its social media platforms Wednesday, a new record.
For the NBA, those are all good signs amid cries that NBA viewership is hurting.
“Ratings are down a bit at beginning of the season. But cable television viewership is down double digits so far this year versus last year,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said earlier this month. “You know, we’re almost at the inflection point where people are watching more programing on streaming than they are on traditional television. And it’s a reason why, for our new television deals, which we enter into next year, every game is going to be available on a streaming service.”
Part of that new package of television deals that the NBA is entering into next season also increases the number of regular-season games broadcast on television from 15 to 75.
Under the 11-year agreement, ESPN and ABC will continue to air the Christmas Day games.
A 2-year-old boy was in critical condition after being shot multiple times inside a North Lawndale apartment Thursday afternoon, according to Chicago police.
The boy was shot multiple times in the lower body just after 4 p.m., and a person of interest was in custody, police said.
By 4:30 p.m., dozens of officers gathered outside a four-flat on the 3800 block of West 14th Street. Detectives and evidence technicians walked in and out of the first-floor apartment. A woman sat on the front stairs, wrapped in a blanket and sobbing.
“I don’t know,” she said. “I don’t know.”
A second woman emerged from the crowd of officers and walked into the middle of the street to make a call.
“Your grandson got shot,” she said on the phone. “Hear me. Your grandson got shot.”
Before going to Stroger Hospital, where the boy had been taken for treatment, she told officers she wanted to retrieve something from the building. Police blocked the entrance. It was a crime scene now, they said.
Across the street, two officers briefly studied a bloody towel with cartoon drawings that someone had placed on the hood of a squad car. A passerby asked the officers if the child had survived. They didn’t know.
A woman in a pink coat hurried up to the building and told police this was her building. She wasn’t able to get inside, either, and retreated down the sidewalk. Someone gave her a sweatshirt to put on over her coat.
A short while later, an officer beckoned her over from where she stood with a group of neighbors. He said police recovered a weapon from the apartment and informed her that they needed to make sure there weren’t any other guns in inside. He handed her a clipboard.
“If you sign this consent form, it makes it a lot easier,” he said. “Do you consent?”
The woman eyed the form.
“No,” she said. “But I don’t really have a choice.”
If she didn’t sign it, the department would get a search warrant for the property, the officer said. Another man came to speak with the woman. A few minutes later, he yelled back toward the house where the officers were standing: “Bring the form!”
Detectives were investigating the shooting.
About 45 minutes earlier on Thursday, police said two men were wounded in a drive-by shooting while they stood on a sidewalk in the 800 block of North Trumbull Avenue in Humboldt Park.
Chicago police process a crime scene after a shooting in the 800 block of North Trumbull Avenue in Chicago on Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)
One of the men, age 21, was shot in the right arm and was taken in good condition to Humboldt Park Medical Center. The other man, 33, was shot four times in the back and went on his own to Humboldt Park Medical Center, where police said he was in critical condition.
Detectives were investigating the shooting and no one was in custody.
A new round of Israeli airstrikes in Yemen on Thursday targeted the Houthi rebel-held capital and multiple ports, while the World Health Organization’s director-general said the bombardment occurred nearby as he prepared to board a flight in Sanaa, with a crew member injured.
“The air traffic control tower, the departure lounge — just a few meters from where we were — and the runway were damaged,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said
on the social media platform X.
Our mission to negotiate the release of @UN
staff detainees and to assess the health and humanitarian situation in #Yemen
concluded today. We continue to call for the detainees’ immediate release.
As we were about to board our flight from Sana’a, about two hours ago, the airport… pic.twitter.com/riZayWHkvf
He added that he and U.N. colleagues were safe. “We will need to wait for the damage to the airport to be repaired before we can leave,” he said, without mentioning the source of the bombardment. U.N. spokesperson Stephanie Tremblay later said the injured person was with the U.N. Humanitarian Air Service.
At least three people were later reported killed and dozens injured in the airport strike. The U.N. team members left the airport and were “safe and sound” in Sanaa while the injured crew member was being treated at a hospital, she said.
Tremblay said the damage assessment would be made on Friday morning to see whether WHO chief and the U.N. team can leave Yemen.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the escalation in attacks between Yemen and Israel and described Thursday’s attacks as “especially alarming,” Tremblay said.
Israel’s army later told The Associated Press it wasn’t aware that the WHO chief or delegation was at the location in Yemen.
The Israeli strikes followed several days of Houthi launches setting off sirens in Israel. The Israeli military in a statement said it attacked infrastructure used by the Iran-backed Houthis at the international airport in Sanaa and ports in Hodeida, Al-Salif and Ras Qantib, along with power stations, asserting they were used to smuggle in Iranian weapons and for the entry of senior Iranian officials.
Israel’s military added it had “capabilities to strike very far from Israel’s territory — precisely, powerfully, and repetitively.”
The strikes, carried out over 1,000 miles from Jerusalem, came a day after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said “the Houthis, too, will learn what Hamas and Hezbollah and Assad’s regime and others learned” as his military has battled those more powerful proxies of Iran.
The Houthi-controlled satellite channel al-Masirah reported multiple deaths and showed broken windows, collapsed ceilings and a bloodstained floor and vehicle. Iran’s foreign ministry condemned the strikes. The U.S. military also has targeted the Houthis in recent days.
The U.N. has said the targeted ports are important entryways for humanitarian aid for Yemen, the poorest Arab nation that plunged into a civil war in 2014.
Over the weekend, 16 people were wounded when a Houthi missile hit a playground in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv, while other missiles and drones have been shot down. Last week, Israeli jets struck Sanaa and Hodeida, killing nine people, calling it a response to previous Houthi attacks. The Houthis also have been targeting shipping on the Red Sea corridor, calling it solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.
The U.N. Security Council has an emergency meeting Monday in response to an Israeli request that it condemn the Houthi attacks and Iran for supplying them weapons.
Photos from the Chicago Bears’ Week 17 game against the Seattle Seahawks on Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024, at Soldier Field.
Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams walks to the locker room after warming up before the Bears play the Seattle Seahawks on Dec. 26, 2024. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)Chicago Bears quarterback Tyson Bagent (17) signs autographs before the Bears play the Seattle Seahawks at Soldier Field. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)
Chicago Bears cornerback Tyrique Stevenson (29) plays catch with fans before the Bears play the Seattle Seahawks. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)Chicago Bears running back Roschon Johnson walks to the locker room at Soldier Field on Dec. 26, 2024. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)Chicago Bears place kicker Cairo Santos high-fives fans while walking to the field before the Bears play the Seattle Seahawks at Soldier Field on Dec. 26, 2024. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)
Chicago Bears head coach Thomas Brown walks to the locker room. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)Chicago Bears Chairman George McCaskey walks near the locker room before the Bears play the Seattle Seahawks. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams walks to the locker room before the Bears play the Seattle Seahawks at Soldier Field on Dec. 26, 2024. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)
The Chicago Bears (4-11) will play the Seattle Seahawks (8-7) on Thursday at Soldier Field in a Week 17 matchup. Here’s what you need to know before kickoff (7:15 p.m., Prime Video and Fox-32).
Inactives: Gervon Dexter returns to Bears defensive line, but Zacch Pickens inactive
Defensive tackle Gervon Dexter will return to the lineup for the first time since Dec. 8 when the Bears host the Seahawks on Thursday night at Soldier Field.
Dexter missed the last two games with a knee injury and was limited all week in practice but is good to go. However, fellow second-year defensive tackle Zacch Pickens is a surprise inactive.
Guard/center Doug Kramer, who was dealing with a shoulder injury, and linebacker Amen Ogbongbemiga, who had a hip injury, are active.
The Bears previously declared out left guard Teven Jenkins, who has a calf injury. And they will be without starting left tackle Braxton Jones, who went on injured reserve with a broken ankle this week.
The Bears on Wednesday also declared out running back Travis Homer, safety Elijah Hicks and defensive back Tarvarius Moore. Linebacker Noah Sewell is also inactive.
For the Seahawks, cornerback Nehemiah Pritchett, tight end Brady Russell, linebacker Patrick O’Connell, offensive tackle Michael Jerrell, wide receiver Cody White and quarterback Jaren Hall are inactive.
5 things to watch — plus our predictions
Bears quarterback Caleb Williams rolls out of the pocket in the second quarter against the Lions on Dec. 22, 2024, at Soldier Field. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune)
Despite a dismal couple of months for the Bears, rookie quarterback Caleb Williams has had some strong moments, including as he threw for 334 yards and two touchdowns in the loss to the Detroit Lions in Week 16.
That outing upped his season total to 3,271 yards with 19 touchdowns and five interceptions, bringing him just 568 yards from breaking the Bears single-season passing record with two games to go. He already has the best rookie season in franchise history and is sixth on the Bears all-time list.
The Lions game also was Williams’ ninth straight without throwing an interception, an NFL rookie record, and his 326 pass attempts without an interception is the sixth-longest single-season stretch in NFL history, according to the Bears.
Thursday’s game is another chance to build on his numbers against a Seahawks defense that is middle-of-the-road in most categories, though it does rank 12th in third-down and red-zone percentages. Read more here.
Bears offensive linemen head to the line of scrimmage against the Texans on Sept. 15, 2024, in Houston. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune)
Left tackle Braxton Jones becomes the third Bears offensive lineman to finish the season on injured reserve in a year when almost anything that can go wrong in the trenches has.
Twelve linemen have played. Nine have started, and that number is expected to reach 10 with left guard Teven Jenkins ruled out with a calf injury for Thursday night’s game against the Seattle Seahawks at Soldier Field. Jake Curhan will likely replace him.
It’s just the latest dilemma for the organization, which had more depth and flexibility when the year began. All of it has been tested. Much of it has failed or been injured. It has removed suspense from offseason planning.
What should the Bears do? Shop for offensive linemen. Then go find more of them. Read more here.
Bears quarterback Caleb Williams walks off the field after the 34-17 loss to the Lions on Dec. 22, 2024, at Soldier Field. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)
Who would have ever imagined the Bears would be here on Christmas morning, with nary a football present and a dark lump of something beneath a scraggly tree that looks like it belongs on Mount Crumpit.
This, certainly, wasn’t what was promised. This wasn’t what anyone was imagining back in the summer when the “Hard Knocks” hype was peaking, when all the growing optimism felt justified, when general manager Ryan Poles was touting the leadership style of his head coach and the depth of the offensive line he built.
Back then, the positive energy inside Halas Hall and all around Chicago was infectious. Visions of meaningful football being played around the Christmas holiday were everywhere. The playoffs felt like a possibility.
Turns out that was all flimsy, hope-filled delusion. Read more here.
Bears quarterback Caleb Williams walks off while Lions defensive end Josh Paschal (93) celebrates a fumble recovery in the first quarter Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024, at Soldier Field. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)
The Bears got their slow-starting offense rolling in the first half — they had 225 yards and 14 points — but Sunday’s 34-17 loss to the Detroit Lions was never really close, not after two early turnovers and a slew of penalties and not against the high-octane Lions offense.
The result was the ninth consecutive Bears loss — the second-longest single-season losing streak in team history — and it dropped them to 4-11. It’s a lot more of the same as the team struggles to the finish line with interim coach Thomas Brown. Read more here.
