Will 49ers play on Thanksgiving or Christmas Day this year?
By Peter Panacy
The NFL has long dominated Thanksgiving and is now taking over Christmas, but will the 49ers play on either holiday for their 2024 schedule?
Football has been a staple of Thanksgiving for years. Now, the NFL has started to flex is showtime muscle by jumping into the Christmas market in an attempt to drive the NBA, which has long held unofficial rights to games on the holiday.
It helped that Christmas Day, Dec. 25, fell on a Monday in 2023, which meant it could host games as a normal part of the regular-season schedule.
The San Francisco 49ers not only played on Thanksgiving a month earlier, defeating the Seattle Seahawks in a primetime Thursday Night Football bout, but the Niners also hosted the Baltimore Ravens on Christmas for Monday Night Football, a game head coach Kyle Shanahan's squad ultimately lost in what was then viewed as a potential Super Bowl preview.
San Francisco ultimately made it to the Super Bowl. Baltimore did not. But that's another story.
Now, with the 2024 NFL schedule release hitting news cycles, 49ers fans can wonder whether or not their team will be again playing on either holiday, Thanksgiving or Christmas.
Will 49ers play on Thanksgiving or Christmas? Probably not
There are slightly better odds of the Niners playing on Thursday night for Thanksgiving, but it won't be against the two teams that traditionally host Thanksgiving day games on a yearly basis, the Detroit Lions and Dallas Cowboys.
True, San Francisco plays both teams this year, but the 49ers will be the home team. Dallas and Detroit host their Thanksgiving matchups, meaning the Niners would have to play Thursday night.
Considering the NFL is now flexing opponents for Thursday Night Football, it's possible San Francisco gets moved up in the week if the league deems it necessary.
As for Christmas Day, it falls on Wednesday, Dec. 25.
The NFL has already stated it'll have a game played on the holiday. But, typically, the league rotates teams from playing primetime holiday games, meaning it's not very likely the 49ers end up squaring off against anyone on Dec. 25.
Except against Santa Claus, perhaps.
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