The NFL and the NBA had an understanding for many years. Football takes Thanksgiving, and Christmas belongs to basketball.  The NFL was around during late December for the holiday, but only if the day fell on a weekend. But since they invited Netflix as partners, Rogel Goodell stressed taking over Christmas too. And that is beginning to annoy Charles Barkley.

You can see why the NBA Hall of Famer isn’t particularly pleased with this development. As far as he remembers, December 25 has been marked with the most intense rivalries. While that’s still the case, Barkley sounded off on the NFL trying to steal their thunder.

“The NFL got greedy and started adding Christmas games. We used to have this day to ourself but Roger Goodell and them pigs at the NFL always want to hog every day of the week now,” Barkley said about the NFL starting their Christmas day tradition.

Historically, Christmas hadn’t worked for the NFL. They kept the games on Christmas if they fell on a weekend to draw viewership. That was never a problem for the NBA. They have a custom of making commercials, wearing festive-themed jerseys, and have always found ways to stay close to the holidays. The NFL only started to regularly keep multiple games from last season, with three again tonight.

So for Barkley to be enraged, it’s understandable. But what it has made is a battle, and both fans are more than willing to butt heads over who claims the holidays.

NBA and NFL fight it out for Christmas

There was an easy answer for NFL fans to justify their regular appearance on Christmas. “It’s not personal, it’s just business,” a fan wrote. Having a partnership with Netflix gives the league a global platform. With that kind of access, why wouldn’t Goodell look to latch on to a lucrative business opportunity?

But that could be done through any other holiday. Christmas attracts the eyes, and the NFL saw its two most-viewed streaming games last season. But NBA fans pointed out the quality of football on that occasion. “All of the NFL Christmas games ended up being fairly meaningless,” a fan pointed out.

In basketball terms, the Chiefs and the Ravens both won their respective matchups in blowouts. On the other hand, NBA teams that get the honor of playing on Christmas don’t spare effort. These games produce some thrillers generally, as players understand the opportunity doesn’t come often.

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Just to get even, one fan suggested taking over the NFL’s trademark day. “That’s why I said NBA should throw games on for Thanksgiving. The NFL broke the truce and idgaf id rather watch regular season NBA basketball over any form of football except the Super Bowl and AFC/NFC championship games,” they wrote.

If you ask a few NBA stars, they might be against it. Draymond Green recently admitted he doesn’t mind the NFL having both Thanksgiving and Christmas. But from a fan’s perspective, the NBA will always rule over Christmas. That’s the sort of history attached to it. Just take MSG, which is hosting its 50 Christmas game.

However, now that both have a presence, fans are taking sides. The NFL side says, “All these leagues are greedy, NFL just is king and knows it,”. On the other hand, NBA fans insist, “The NBA owns Christmas now”. At the end of the day, it’s your choice. Because even if it is a war, it seems like both sides are winning.