From Turkey to Tinsel: The Role of Sports in Holiday Traditions

This Thanksgiving, the Chicago Bears nearly pulled off a stunning comeback against a dominant Detroit Lions team. Rookie quarterback Caleb Williams led a thrilling late-game drive, but with just 30 seconds left, Williams was sacked, pushing the Bears out of field goal range. A failed deep pass sealed the Bears’ fate, leaving fans across the country captivated. The drama delivered: 37.5 million viewers tuned in, contributing to a record-shattering 141 million viewers across the NFL’s Thanksgiving Day games.

Thanksgiving football isn’t just tradition—it’s a cultural institution. The roots of this tradition stretch back to the late 19th century, when college teams began hosting Thanksgiving games to attract fans. The Detroit Lions brought the concept to the NFL in 1934, hosting their first Thanksgiving Day matchup—a practice they’ve maintained ever since, except during World War II. By 1966, the Dallas Cowboys joined the tradition, and in 2006, the league added a primetime game with rotating teams. These additions solidified Thanksgiving football as a defining part of the holiday, making “food, family, and football” a nationwide tradition.

Television’s rise in the mid-20th century amplified the impact of Thanksgiving football, turning the games into one of the most-watched annual events. Today, advertisers recognize the unique opportunity these games present: the NFL dominates U.S. television, claiming 93 of the top 100 broadcasts in 2023 alone. This year, sponsors paid an average of $1.45 million for a 30-second ad, leveraging Thanksgiving football’s alignment with the start of the holiday shopping season to drive Black Friday sales¹.

But Thanksgiving isn’t the only holiday where sports take center stage. Just weeks later, Christmas brings its own unique flair, with the NBA captivating audiences with high-stakes matchups and festive drama. While Thanksgiving sponsorships focus on immediate retail action, Christmas campaigns lean into emotional storytelling, gift-giving, and aspirational messaging. The NBA’s Christmas Day games, featuring reigning champions and marquee teams, draw millions of viewers and offer brands a platform to connect with audiences on a more personal level.

From Thanksgiving football’s historic origins to the NBA’s holiday spotlight, sports have become a defining element of these celebrations. Together, they provide brands with distinct opportunities to engage audiences, leveraging tradition, timing, and evolving consumer behaviors to drive impact during the most critical marketing season of the year.

The Evolution of Sports Sponsorships

In the early years of the NFL’s Thanksgiving Day games, sponsorships primarily came from the league’s television partners, such as CBS and NBC, which held broadcasting rights during the 1950s and 1960s. These networks acted as de facto sponsors by securing advertising from national brands to air during the games. However, the NFL’s direct corporate sponsorship efforts were relatively modest during this period. Fast forward just a few years and in 1979, Ford paid $15,000 to sponsor the annual Punt, Pass & Kick competition, with total sponsorship revenue for the event well below $100,000².

It wasn’t until the 1980s that the NFL began aggressively pursuing corporate sponsorships, marking a significant shift in strategy. This era saw the league formalize relationships with major brands, moving beyond television advertisements to include prominent partnerships tied to league events. By the 1980s, the NFL’s sponsorship business had grown substantially, with individual deals worth significant amounts, reflecting the league’s enhanced focus on marketing and corporate partnerships³.

The NBA’s Christmas Day games have become a marquee event, offering brands a unique opportunity to engage audiences through compelling storytelling and holiday-themed messaging. This tradition began in 1947, with the New York Knicks hosting the Providence Steamrollers, and has since evolved to feature high-profile teams and rivalries⁴. Unlike the NFL’s Thanksgiving Day games, which feature the same two host teams annually, the NBA’s Christmas lineup changes each year, offering fresh and exciting matchups like the iconic 2004 game between the Miami Heat and Los Angeles Lakers. That showdown, featuring Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant facing off as opponents for the first time, drew over 13 million viewers and remains a landmark moment in holiday sports history⁵. By aligning with the festive spirit and showcasing variety, the NBA has solidified its Christmas Day games as a cornerstone of holiday sports marketing.

As the traditions of Thanksgiving football and NBA Christmas Day games grew, so did their value to advertisers, transforming these holiday matchups into powerhouse platforms for brands to reach massive audiences and drive revenue.

Growth of the Market

Today, Thanksgiving NFL games dominate national advertising during the holiday weekend, accounting for 69% of all national TV ad spending over the four-day period⁶. As previously mentioned, the cost of a 30-second spot during these games reached an average of $1.45 million in 2023, second only to Super Bowl ads in terms of value⁷.

The appeal for brands lies in the scale of the audience. In 2022, Thanksgiving matchups attracted an average of 33.5 million viewers, with the Cowboys vs. Giants game drawing 42 million viewers—a record for any regular-season NFL broadcast⁸. Such viewership dwarfs other holiday programming, including the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, where a balloon sponsorship costs $190,000 in its first year and $90,000 in subsequent years⁹.

The NBA’s Christmas Day games, while smaller in scale, offer distinct opportunities in their own right. With an average audience of 4.27 million viewers per game in 2022, peaking at 6.03 million for the Celtics vs. Bucks, these matchups attract younger, tech-savvy, and diverse demographics¹⁰. While specific figures for total advertising revenue during the NBA’s Christmas Day games in 2022 are not publicly disclosed, the substantial viewership indicates a lucrative platform for name brands, such as State Farm, during the holiday season.

As the holiday season progresses, the massive viewership of Thanksgiving and Christmas games seamlessly transitions into one of the most critical shopping periods of the year, giving brands an opportunity to capitalize on the heightened consumer engagement driven by Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

Blending Tradition with Innovation: Modern Holiday Sports Advertising

We’ve seen how Thanksgiving football and NBA Christmas games became deeply rooted holiday traditions, and we’ve explored how the market for sports sponsorships has evolved into a powerhouse. But understanding the history and scale only gets us so far. The real question is: What are brands doing about it now?

The answer lies in innovation. Today, brands are transforming the way they approach holiday sports advertising, blending tradition with cutting-edge strategies to engage audiences in entirely new ways. From interactive shoppable ads to data-driven programmatic campaigns, they’re seizing the moment—not just to grab attention, but to convert it into action. Just like Walmart did, in their recent shoppable TV ads during the Thanksgiving NFL games.

Walmart’s 2024 Shoppable TV Ads

Just a few weeks ago, in November 2024, Walmart and NBCUniversal partnered to introduce groundbreaking shoppable advertisements during the Thanksgiving NFL game, blending live sports with interactive e-commerce and programmatic advertising. These ads allowed viewers to shop directly from their screens, marking a significant step in the evolution of dynamic and personalized advertising strategies. Key features of these shoppable ads included:

On-Screen QR Codes
Commercial breaks featured QR codes viewers could scan with their smartphones, seamlessly redirecting them to Walmart’s online store. Programmatic elements ensured product recommendations aligned with ongoing Black Friday promotions, enhancing relevance and consumer engagement.

Text-to-Shop Functionality
Using NBCUniversal’s “Shop the Pod” platform, viewers were able to access product information and purchase items via text messaging. Programmatic data-driven insights ensured the featured products resonated with audience demographics.

Looking back, Walmart’s partnership with NBCUniversal during the Thanksgiving NFL broadcasts marked a pivotal moment in the evolution of holiday advertising. By launching shoppable TV ads powered by programmatic technology, Walmart brought a new level of interactivity to the viewing experience. The campaign utilized real-time audience data to dynamically adjust product recommendations, ensuring that the ads resonated with viewers’ preferences and shopping behaviors.

This seamless integration of retail and live sports made holiday shopping more immediate and accessible. Walmart Connect’s retail media network played a critical role, enabling closed-loop measurement to track consumer actions from engagement to purchase. Advertisers gained valuable insights into the campaign’s impact, while viewers experienced a personalized and efficient path to shopping.

The campaign showcased how live sports, programmatic technology, and e-commerce could merge to create meaningful consumer touchpoints. By aligning advertising strategies with the high-engagement nature of the Thanksgiving NFL games, Walmart and NBCUniversal demonstrated the potential of blending tradition with innovation, setting a new standard for how brands connect with audiences during the holiday season.

Walmart’s focus on immediacy reflects a deeper understanding of the modern consumer’s desire for convenience and relevance during the fast-paced holiday shopping season. By meeting audiences in real time with tailored product recommendations, Walmart turned passive viewers into active shoppers, setting a benchmark for brands looking to make an impact. As Christmas approaches, the challenge shifts: how can brands take these lessons of innovation and immediacy and adapt them to the emotional, aspirational tone of the holiday season?

Adapting Innovation for Christmas: Lessons from Thanksgiving’s Success

While Thanksgiving and Black Friday campaigns thrive on urgency and immediacy, Christmas presents a fundamentally different advertising challenge. The focus shifts from driving immediate action to creating emotional resonance. Christmas advertising is less about doorbuster deals and more about fostering a sense of connection, generosity, and aspiration. However, the innovative strategies employed during Thanksgiving and Black Friday—like Walmart’s shoppable TV ads—offer valuable lessons for brands aiming to stand out during the holiday season.

Emotional Connection Meets Convenience
The success of Walmart’s interactive ads highlights the power of meeting consumers where they are, whether they’re watching a live NFL game or scrolling social media. For Christmas, brands can adapt this strategy by weaving seamless shopping features into emotionally driven campaigns. Imagine a heartfelt ad during an NBA Christmas Day game that also offers QR codes for premium gift items or holiday bundles. By combining the emotional storytelling Christmas demands with the accessibility seen in Walmart’s campaign, brands can build memorable experiences while simplifying the path to purchase.

Leveraging Real-Time Engagement
Thanksgiving ads capitalize on the immediacy of Black Friday shopping, but Christmas campaigns could lean into the countdown to gift-giving. For example, using programmatic advertising during NBA Christmas games, brands could dynamically update promotions based on inventory or consumer preferences as the holiday approaches. Ads could emphasize last-minute shopping options like curbside pickup or expedited shipping, aligning with the practical needs of consumers without sacrificing the festive tone.

Tailoring to the Spirit of the Season
Christmas demands a more nuanced approach to messaging. While Thanksgiving ads celebrate family gatherings and the thrill of shopping, Christmas campaigns succeed by evoking joy, nostalgia, and togetherness. Brands can leverage the lessons of immediacy from Walmart’s Thanksgiving campaign to emphasize how their products can make holiday moments even more special. For example, ads could feature personalized gift options or premium products presented as the perfect way to show loved ones you care.

The Takeaways

The success of Thanksgiving and Black Friday campaigns like Walmart’s demonstrates that technology and tradition aren’t mutually exclusive. By incorporating interactive elements and programmatic targeting, brands can make even the most emotionally charged campaigns actionable. For Christmas, the key will be to blend these tools with a focus on storytelling and sentimentality, ensuring ads don’t just drive sales but also create lasting impressions.

Christmas, like Thanksgiving, is a time when audiences are deeply engaged with holiday traditions—and sports play a significant role. By understanding the nuances of the season and adapting the lessons of immediacy and interactivity, brands can craft campaigns that resonate emotionally while meeting consumers’ needs in meaningful ways.