Chiefs Make Surprising Request to NFL for Future Christmas Day Games

Kansas City appears to have a plan for holidays to come.

Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce celebrate Christmas after the Chiefs' win on the holiday in 2024. / Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

In the NFL, Thanksgiving traditionally belongs to the Detroit Lions and Dallas Cowboys.

Could Christmas soon belong to the Kansas City Chiefs?

It's a possibility, according to a Wednesday morning report from Daniel Popper and Nate Taylor of The Athletic. Per Popper and Taylor, "when it comes to domestic standalone games, the Chiefs have requested that the NFL make them a fixture on Christmas Day, according to a league source."

Kansas City has played five games all-time on Christmas, winning three (2004, 2016 and 2024) and losing two (a 1971 playoff game and 2023).

The push comes amid two important trends: the NFL's gradual incursion into Christmas—a holiday traditionally associated with basketball—and the Chiefs' explosion in popularity.

Every NFL season since 2020 has featured at least one Christmas game. The league had avoided the holiday in the past in unfavorable calendar years, but has played chronological guardrails fast and loose this decade; Christmas fell on a Wednesday this past year, when the NFL added a pair of games broadcast exclusively on Netflix.

Kansas City—already riding the high of two Super Bowl wins—entered a new level of celebrity in 2023 when tight end Travis Kelce began dating musician Taylor Swift. Now among sports's most reliable television draws, the Chiefs have won five of the last six AFC titles.

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