Sports

Bountiful offerings of NFL, NBA games set for Christmas Day. How to watch

Golden State Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga (1) cuts through Sacramento Kings guard DeMar DeRozan (10) and center Maxime Raynaud (42) in the first half on Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2025. The Warriors will play the Mavericks on Christmas Day.
Golden State Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga (1) cuts through Sacramento Kings guard DeMar DeRozan (10) and center Maxime Raynaud (42) in the first half on Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2025. The Warriors will play the Mavericks on Christmas Day. jvillegas@sacbee.com

The NBA and NFL will unleash a cornucopia of Christmas Day games, but only some games will be available on traditional broadcast television.

The NBA began playing basketball games on Christmas Day in 1947, ESPN reported. The league has played games every Christmas except during a lockout in 1998. The New York Knicks played the Providence Steamrollers in the inaugural game.

The NFL followed suit in 1971, the Pro Football Hall of Fame said. The Dallas Cowboys met the Minnesota Vikings and the Kansas City Chiefs played the Miami Dolphins.

Here’s what to know:

NFL games

The NFL will play three games on Christmas, and all three will be streamed online.

Dallas Cowboys at Washington Commanders: This game starts at 10 a.m. Pacific time and will be streamed on Netflix.

Detroit Lions at Minnesota Vikings: This game begins at 1:30 p.m. and will be streamed on Netflix.

Denver Broncos at Kansas City Chiefs: This game begins at 5:15 p.m. and will be streamed on Amazon Prime.

NBA games

The NBA will play five games on Christmas Day. All five will be broadcast on ABC, Ch. 10, and ESPN.

Cleveland Cavaliers at New York Knicks: This game begins at 9 a.m. Pacific time.

San Antonio Spurs at Oklahoma City Thunder: This game starts at 11:30 a.m.

Dallas Mavericks at Golden State Warriors: This game begins at 2 p.m.

Houston Rockets at Los Angeles Lakers: This game starts at 5 p.m.

Minnesota Timberwolves at Denver Nuggets: This game begins at 7:30 p.m.

DS
Don Sweeney
The Sacramento Bee
Don Sweeney has been a newspaper reporter and editor in California for more than 35 years. He is a service reporter based at The Sacramento Bee.
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