NFL may have some regrets over one Ravens schedule quirk

The Baltimore Ravens have one notable schedule oddity in 2024 that even the NFL seems to regret saddling them with.

The Ravens are scheduled to play on Christmas in 2024 for the second straight year. They faced the San Francisco 49ers on the road last year and are once again on the road against the Houston Texans this time.

In an appearance on the “The Season with Peter Schrager” podcast, NFL vice president of broadcast planning Mike North admitted that the league had been a little unfair to the Ravens by giving them consecutive Christmas road games.

“In retrospect, maybe asking the Ravens to play on the road on Christmas two years in a row maybe wasn’t …” North said before Schrager interjected, via Ryan Mink of the Ravens’ official website.

North did explain that, inevitably, the NFL will want to play big games on holidays, and the league would prefer those games feature the best teams. Right now, that does include the Ravens, though perhaps more care should have been given to the venues.

“We put our biggest games in our biggest windows. Those holiday tentpoles become such good storylines for us and such good results for our broadcast partners,” North added. “You’re going to find the good teams, the teams you think are going to be playoff relevant, in those bigger windows over and over and over again. We probably shouldn’t put the Ravens on the road on Christmas again next year, but excited to see what they do on Christmas this year — definitely.”

The Ravens are not the first team to play on Christmas in consecutive years; in fact, the Kansas City Chiefs are doing it as well. However, every other team has had at least one home game in those two-year spans.

This is not the first time the league has made a regrettable mistake with the schedule. It is probably safe to assume that the Ravens will not be playing a road game on Christmas in 2025.