This holiday season was great for a sports nut like me. I woke up Christmas Day right to all-day festivities of NBA action. Five intriguing matchups, including a rematch of the last two NBA Finals with the Cavs taking on the Warriors. But wait, that couldn’t be it right? How about a Thursday NFL rivalry game (Eagles-Giants on the 22nd), a full slate of day games on Christmas Eve, and then two more games one after the other on Christmas day with even more playoff implications. Then there’s a Monday Night Football game, followed by the New Year’s Six, and, and and… so many sporting events I can’t even list them all here this holiday season!!

It seems like in the United States, sports have become synonymous with all of our major holidays. There are, as described above, the many events surround the Christmas-New Year’s week, but then I realized that I’ve never known a Thanksgiving without the Lions and Cowboys playing, and for Memorial Day, July 4th, and Labor Day, all the MLB teams play while wearing red, white, and blue caps. There are even some people out there arguing that the Monday after the Super Bowl should be a national holiday, granted that’s mostly people just trying to get out of school, but still, the debate is out there.

With all these sporting events surrounding America’s biggest holidays, I came to an idea that sports are America’s religion. At least that’s what my mother said to me, as I was discussing the fact that sporting events on holidays tend to be an excellent marketing opportunity in so many facets, since most people in the country are sitting in their living rooms with friends and family just relaxing and enjoying each other’s company. The relationship between sports and the biggest holidays has made it so that one cannot exist without the other. It was an interesting revelation to say the least.

Think about it. In a nation that is considered in more ways than one a melting pot, sports is something that has the ability to bring people and families closer. Mix it in with a holiday where families and friends are together, and you get a ton of people watching the only football game being broadcasted at 4:30, no matter what teams are playing. Sure, there are plenty that abstain from the constant, obsessive watching, but the way these events are advertised now makes them hard to miss. Once the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is over on Thanksgiving, there’s nothing else on TV except for some football.

So people go nuts over all these games, when they’re just regular season games. Like any religious pursuit, people are more inclined to watch sports on national holidays, even when the teams playing have no significance to them. I mean, at this point, every single Saturday and Sunday in the fall is an opportunity to binge watch all the football possible. It’s crazy.

The idea works both ways to benefit people and the networks that broadcast all these events. These said networks (ESPN, Fox, CBS, etc.) advertise these grand events with catchy headlines such as the New Year’s Six, then add in a couple of extras, such as newly worn jerseys. The expected viewers then anticipate those games more because they will be the big event on television on that time, that given day. It’s an excellent marketing opportunity for sports networks and the leagues themselves, and it simultaneously provides an intriguing product for viewers. Holidays and sports in America are not just synonymous, they help each other out.

So, although many Americans watch sports obsessively, especially on these big holidays, is it necessarily bad? I don’t think so. Watching pro sports is a great way to bring families and friends together in one social gathering. Everyone is watching the same game, so everyone is going to be talking about it. It’s also very exciting to look forward to a chill day such as Christmas or Thanksgiving, because the only two things I need to be doing on those days are two of my favorite pastimes: eating and watching sports. These events can be seen as religious activities in America, but the reality is that it can be very interactive for everybody.

As another holiday season comes to a close, I’ll be enjoying the rest of the games that are left, because I sure am a religious sports watcher. Good luck to your teams going forward, and Happy New Year!