What Channel is the Cowboys and Cardinals Game on Christmas Night?

While America may seem to have a nearly insatiable appetite for football, the matchup on Christmas night between two last place teams (even if one is still considered to be 'America's Team'), will test how endless the demand for football actually is.

Think about it. On the night of what is the biggest of all holidays for millions of Americans, the National Football League is deciding to show a football game. While earlier in the day, millions will tune in to watch NBA action when LeBron James' Miami Heat and Kobe Byrant's Los Angeles Lakers square off, Christmas night will be reserved for the NFL.

At the beginning of the season, when this game was scheduled, it looked to be at least a little bit compelling on paper, as the Cowboys were widely picked to be Super Bowl contenders. In fact, there was added intrigue and interest in Dallas as the Super Bowl will be played in Cowboys Stadium...many thought the 'Boys would have the chance to host the game both on and off the field.

But the Cowboys' season unraveled, and even a month ago, when the Cowboys played their traditional Thanksgiving Day game, it was clear that the Cowboys were an also ran. Since then, the Cowboys have fired their head coach Wade Phillips and have looked better in recent weeks, but they are clearly not a contender this year and will not get the chance to play the Super Bowl at home.

For their part, the Arizona Cardinals seem to have, after a few years of glory, settled back into their role as perennial league doormat. They are 4 and 10 this year and have nothing to play for at this point.

In the good news/bad news department, a relative few will actually see the Cowboys and Cardinals game. The NFL, which does almost everything well when it comes to business, sales and marketing, continues to try to prop up its NFL Network, which has largely not succeeded in capturing the imagination when it comes to viewership.

For several reasons, there has not been a huge demand for the network, even though the league likes to put games on at 'special times' (such as Thanksgiving night, Christmas night and many Thursday nights), on it to drive to 'tease out' extra cable subscriptions without disrupting the national campfire ritual that its Sunday afternoon, evening and Monday night games have become.

So, for those interested in watching the Cardinals and Cowboys on Christmas night (and aside from the fans of both teams, some degenerate gamblers and fantasy football players few ill), the answer to the question of what channel is the game on is: the NFL Network. The broadcast begins at 7:30 pm ET.

Source:

http://www.nfl.com/nflnetwork/networkschedule?selectedMonth=December&field=selectedDate&selectedDate=12%2F25%2F2010