{"id":164431,"date":"2021-11-24T01:42:53","date_gmt":"2021-11-24T02:42:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=164431"},"modified":"2021-11-24T05:57:09","modified_gmt":"2021-11-24T05:57:09","slug":"sydney-kings-pushing-for-historic-christmas-day-slot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=164431","title":{"rendered":"Sydney Kings pushing for historic Christmas Day slot"},"content":{"rendered":"

NBL franchise Sydney Kings<\/a> are hoping to become the first Australian top-tier sporting team to play a match on Christmas Day.<\/p>\n

While Australia is known for its heavyweight Boxing Day fixtures, consisting of Test cricket and the iconic Sydney-Hobart yacht race, Christmas Day is yet to be a prominent fixture in the sporting calendar.<\/p>\n

Across the globe, Christmas Day fixtures are a big deal in the US, largely due to TV ratings success.<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Bailey should stand down after failing Paine test, says Tony Jones<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Both the NFL and NBA stage fixtures on Christmas Day, which typically are highlighted by marquee matchups.<\/p>\n

\"Ben<\/p>\n

The Kings this season will host Melbourne United on Boxing Day, but organisation chairman and owner Paul Smith, says he wants the fixture to change the following season.<\/p>\n

"It's one of the last bits of uncharted territory in Australian sport," Smith told the Sydney Morning Herald<\/a>. "We really want to do it, we'd love to do it.<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Ronaldo fires Manchester United into last 16 of Champions League<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

"If there is any territory we can break, if there are any frontiers we can get through, we want to get through those. We're very pro the idea.<\/p>\n

"The world has changed; when I grew up, Christmas Day was holier than holy. Now pubs, restaurants, clubs, there are people dining out on Christmas Day, it's a big thing."<\/p>\n

The idea has been brought to the attention of the NBL, but the league has been receptive according to the Sydney Morning Herald's report.<\/p>\n

NBL's summer competitors, cricket's Big Bash League, has long considered having a fixture on Christmas Day.<\/a><\/p>\n

The idea has been discussed and floated by the BBL but has yet to take place.<\/p>\n

For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by<\/em><\/strong> clicking here!<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NBL franchise Sydney Kings are hoping to become the first Australian top-tier sporting team to play a match on Christmas Day. While Australia is known […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/164431"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=164431"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/164431\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":164433,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/164431\/revisions\/164433"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=164431"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=164431"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=164431"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}