The National Football League occasionally schedules matchups on Christmas, December 25 or Christmas Eve, December 24. Unlike their November holiday counterparts, the Thanksgiving Classic games, Christmas Day and Christmas Eve games in the National Football League are not a regular annual part of the schedule; rather, the NFL only schedules a Christmas game on a night when football would be played anyway, and has only scheduled regular season games on Christmas Day since 1989. Through the 2011 season, there have been 17 Christmas Day contests.