Christmas Day 2026 Games: 5 NBA and 3 NFL From 12 p.m. ET

Christmas Day, Friday, Dec. 25, 2026, has eight games, five from the National Basketball Association (NBA) and three from the National Football League (NFL), running from 12 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. Eastern Time (ET), according to NBA.com and NFL.com. The NBA games all air on ESPN and the American Broadcasting Company (ABC); the NFL splits its tripleheader between Netflix and FOX.

The printable at the end of this story puts all eight games on one page. For the date itself, see when Christmas Day falls.

What time are all the Christmas Day 2026 games?

This table merges both leagues in start order. Pacific Time (PT) is computed from the Eastern Time listed by the league.

Start (ET)	Start (PT)	Game	League	Where to watch
12 p.m.	9 a.m.	Spurs at Knicks	NBA	ESPN, ABC
1 p.m.	10 a.m.	Packers at Bears	NFL	Netflix
2:30 p.m.	11:30 a.m.	Heat at Celtics	NBA	ESPN, ABC
4:30 p.m.	1:30 p.m.	Bills at Broncos	NFL	Netflix
5 p.m.	2 p.m.	76ers at Lakers	NBA	ESPN, ABC
8 p.m.	5 p.m.	Thunder at Timberwolves	NBA	ESPN, ABC
8:15 p.m.	5:15 p.m.	Rams at Seahawks	NFL	FOX
10:30 p.m.	7:30 p.m.	Nuggets at Warriors	NBA	ESPN, ABC

The first tip is at noon ET. Two pairs of starts sit close together on the clock: the Bills at Broncos kickoff (4:30 p.m. ET) and the 76ers at Lakers tip (5 p.m. ET) are 30 minutes apart, and the Thunder at Timberwolves tip (8 p.m. ET) is 15 minutes ahead of Rams at Seahawks (8:15 p.m. ET).

Which NBA games are on Christmas Day 2026?

NBA.com announced the five-game slate on Aug. 11, 2026. The home team is listed second in the table above: the Knicks, Celtics, Lakers, Timberwolves and Warriors all host. NBA.com says the defending champion Knicks host the Spurs, and its headline calls that opener an NBA Finals rematch.

The ESPN Press Room release of the same date says all games will once again air on both ESPN and ABC. ESPN games also stream on the ESPN App.

For context, the 2025 Christmas Day results, from NBA recaps, were the Knicks over the Cavaliers 126-124, the Spurs over the Thunder 117-102 and the Nuggets over the Timberwolves 142-138 in overtime. Those are last year’s scores and say nothing about 2026.

Which NFL games are on Christmas Day 2026?

The NFL’s Christmas Day tripleheader, per NFL.com’s schedule release story, is Packers at Bears at Soldier Field, Bills at Broncos at Empower Field at Mile High and Rams at Seahawks at Lumen Field. Netflix lists the first two games on its 2026 NFL schedule page (Netflix Tudum, Sept. 11, 2026); the Rams at Seahawks game is on FOX.

NFL.com describes the late game as a rematch of last season’s National Football Conference (NFC) Championship Game.

What time is the Nuggets at Warriors game in Pacific Time?

Nuggets at Warriors, the last game of the day, tips off at 10:30 p.m. ET. That is 7:30 p.m. PT, a computed conversion. The earliest game, Spurs at Knicks, is 9 a.m. PT. On the West Coast, the full slate therefore runs from 9 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Is there basketball before Christmas?

Yes. The Emirates NBA Cup championship is on Friday, Dec. 11, 2026, at Hinkle Fieldhouse, and streams on Prime Video, according to NBA.com. Our NBA Cup 2026 schedule covers the group play and knockout dates.

How to plan the day

Print the one-page schedule below, then mark the games you want on the December 2026 printable calendar. Christmas Eve is Thursday, Dec. 24; see when Christmas Eve falls for that date. For the rest of the countdown, see our Christmas 2026 calendar and countdown. The same one-day layout for the previous holiday is in our Thanksgiving 2026 football schedule.