NFL to have Christmas Day game in 2024 (will 49ers be playing?)

The NFL announced another Christmas Day game in 2024, which will fall on a Wednesday. But, will the 49ers partake again this season?

Despite the growing global popularity of the NBA in recent years and decades, the NFL still reigns supreme, particularly in the United States.

And the NFL continues to flex its muscle on a holiday that traditionally belonged to basketball: Christmas Day.

In 2023, Christmas fell on a Thursday, which afforded the league a chance to feature three games, including the San Francisco 49ers hosting the Baltimore Ravens for a Thursday Night Football showdown in prime time.

The Niners ultimately lost that game in a relatively one-sided affair, but the viewership of that game fully revealed just how successful the NFL was in broadcasting a featured bout between two Super Bowl contenders on a holiday such as Christmas.

In fact, Christmas Day games were so successful in 2023, the NFL is going to do so again, as reported by ESPN, even though the holiday will fall on a Wednesday in 2024.

NFL will feature Christmas Day game in 2024, will the 49ers play it again?

The week between Christmas Day and New Year's Day will have plenty of football, which ESPN's Field Yates pointed out after news broke that the league was going to have another game played:

Dec. 26 will feature Thursday Night Football, while the league will flex games to Saturday, Dec. 28 before the regular slate of Sunday games the following day.

But, will San Francisco be playing again on Christmas Day after doing so last year?

The 2024 regular-season schedule won't be released until May, so it's not a 100-percent certainty. But the NFL does a fairly good job at rotating teams into and out of the holidays. As head coach Kyle Shanahan pointed out last year, the 49ers had Christmas off "last four years in a row" before playing on the holiday last season.

There's a strong likelihood the Niners will be placed back into the rotation at the back end of teams lining up to play on Christmas. While they could still play on Dec. 26 or Dec. 28, the probability of another game on Dec. 25 is awfully slight.

That means San Francisco's fans can most likely enjoy Christmas with families while watching some stress-free football featuring other teams that don't wear the red and gold.

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