The Festive Season is on the horizon, but don’t panic! If you love your sports, then we will guide you to some of the best annual Christmas sporting events you can enjoy each year!
The shops may be festooned in Christmas decorations, you may be planning for the big day and working out who to invite, or not to invite, to Christmas dinner. Perhaps you have your work’s party to attend, or a gathering of friends and family to look forward to.
Then of course there is the whole palaver of buying gifts for people, writing out and sending the Xmas cards, sorting out the copious amount of Christmas food and drink to buy.
And unless you are a guest at someone else’s residence, then you will likely have to cook the turkey and all the trimmings on the day too!
No wonder sports fans can get a little lost over the festive period, but in those precious moments of down time, there are some fantastic annual Christmas sporting events you can enjoy.
And this is our guide to the very best of them!
Remember, bet365 Sport offers outstanding betting on all these events, and many more besides not just for the festive season, but throughout the whole year too!
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So let’s begin our countdown in the run up to Christmas with some of the key events taking place in December.
Top Annual Christmas Sporting Events
The Mosconi Cup – Pool
- Dates – 6th to 9th December 2023
- Venue – Alexandra Palace, London
The annual match between the pool stars of the United States and Europe takes place in London this year as Europe seeks to make it four wins in a row against the U.S. team.
Europe have won 13 of the last 16 Mosconi Cup competitions, after winning just two, and tying one, of the first 13 tournaments. This year the European squad will once again start as the comfortable favourites to retain the trophy and take home $40,000 per man for a win.
With a mixture of singles and doubles games each night, the first team to 11 points wins the trophy.
- Latest Betting from bet365 – To win outright – Europe 3/10, USA – 12/5.
The PDC World Darts Championship
- Dates – 15th December 2023 to 3th January 2024
- Venue – Alexandra Palace, London
Perhaps no sporting event is more synonymous with Christmas than the World Darts Championship. Last year, Michael Smith won the trophy, defeating Michael van Gerwen in the final.
The tournament is broken up into two halves, pre-Christmas and post-Christmas, with the final taking place in the New Year. Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Years Day are amongst the days the players have off.
In what has been an open season on the Darts scene, there are a large number of players who could be in with a chance of becoming the first major Sporting World Champion of 2024!
- Latest Betting from bet365 – To win outright – Michael van Gerwen, Gerwyn Price both 9/2, Luke Humphries 5/1, Michael Smith 15/2, Gary Anderson 11/1, Peter Wright, Rob Cross both 14/1, Nathan Aspinall 22/1, Josh Rock 25/1, Jonny Clayton, Dave Chisnall, Gian van Veen, Stephen Bunting, James Wade all 40/1. 50/1 bar.
Premier League Football – Festive Schedule
- Date 1 – 15th December 2023 to 17th December 2023 – Matchday 15
- Date 2 – 21st December 2023 to 24th December 2023 – Matchday 16
- Date 3 – 26th December 2023 to 28th December 2023 – Matchday 17
- Date 4 – 30th December 2023 to 2nd January 2024 – Matchday 18
Christmas football has long been a part of the tradition in the UK and this year is no exception with no less than four sets of Premier League games between the 15th December and 2nd January.
Big games taking place over this period include; Liverpool v Manchester United (17th December), Liverpool v Arsenal (23rd December), Everton v Man City (27th December), Brighton v Tottenham (28th December) and Liverpool v Newcastle Utd (1st January).
Manchester City will also be involved in the FIFA World Club Championship in late December, seeking to add that trophy to their burgeoning list of honours.
- Latest Betting from bet365 – To win outright – Man City 1/2, Arsenal 4/1, Liverpool 5/1, Tottenham 25/1, Newcastle Utd 80/1, Aston Villa, Manchester United both 100/1, Chelsea 250/1, 750/1 bar.
NFL Christmas & New Year Games
- Date 1 – 22nd to 26th December 2023 – Week 16
- Date 2 – 29th December 2023 to 1st January 2024 – Week 17
Think there is no sporting action on Christmas Day each year? Well think again as if you are a fan of the NFL, you can usually catch at least one, sometimes two games on Christmas Day, starting in the early evening UK time.
It is also a very important part of the season, as teams are now heading into the final three games of the regular season. That means playoff places will be on the line for a large percentage of teams, who will have it all to play for. Others will want to try and secure the top seed in their conference as with it comes a bye week on Wildcard Weekend and home field advantage throughout the playoffs.
Big games from Week 16 include the Steelers facing the Bengals in a huge NFC North clash, the Vikings facing the Lions in an NFC North Clash and on Christmas Day there are three games with the Chiefs taking on the Raiders from 6pm UK Time, the Eagles facing the Giants at 9.30pm and lastly a huge clash as the 49ers and Ravens meet with a start time of 1.15am on Boxing Day.
There’s also some classics to enjoy on Week 17 with New Year’s Eve games between the Cowboys and Lions, Texans and Titans, Ravens and Dolphins, Seahawks and Steelers and Chiefs v Bengals. You can also kick off the New Year in style by watching the Viking take on the Packers from 1.20am on the 1st January.
- Latest Betting from bet365 – To win Super Bowl LVIII – Kansas City Chiefs 17/4, Philadelphia Eagles, San Francisco 49ers both 5/1, Baltimore Ravens 7/1, Dallas Cowboys, Miami Dolphins both 10/1, Detroit Lions 11/1, Jacksonville Jaguars, Buffalo Bills both 25/1, Seattle Seahawks 33/1, Cleveland Browns 35/1, Los Angeles Chargers, Pittsburgh Steelers both 50/1. 60/1 bar.
“Day of Reckoning” Boxing – Saudi Arabia
- Dates – 23rd December 2023
- Venue – Kingdom Arena, Riyadh
Eddie Hearn and Frank Warren have buried the hatched and are working together for a huge night of boxing. The Day of Reckoning card features a plethora of world champions and up and coming stars in the light heavy and heavyweight divisions.
Topping the bill are Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder, who rather than fighting each other are taking on Otto Wallin and Joseph Parker respectively. Narrow loser to Oleksandr Usyk last time out, Daniel Dubois is back to take on young American Jarrell Miller, while at light heavyweight, the man who defeated Saul Canelo Alvarez, Dmitri Bivol is back in action against British boxer Lyndon Arthur.
With this card reportedly being used to set up a Joshua v Wilder fight, the winner of which could take on the winner of the heavyweight title unification bout between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk (which takes place in February 2024), it certainly is a ‘day of reckoning’ for those who end up losing here.
Latest Betting from bet365 – To win their fight outright – Dubois (1/4) v Miller (3/1), Bivol (1/16) v Arthur (9/1), Wilder (1/6) v Parker (4/1), Joshua (2/7) v Wallin (11/4)
The Ladbrokes Christmas Festival – Horse Racing
- Dates – 26th and 27th December 2023
- Venue – Kempton Park, Surrey
The Ladbrokes Christmas Festival is a traditional 2-day meeting held at Kempton Park on Boxing Day and the 27th December, with the highlight race of the meeting being Boxing Day’s King George VI. Chase.
First contested in 1937, the race has seen a number of very famous winners over the year including four-time winner Desert Orchid, Best Mate, Long Run, five-time winner Kauto Star, Cue Card, the magnificent Thistlecrack and last year’s winner and current favourite Bravemansgame.
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=thistlecrack+king+george+2016
Paul Nicholls has trained 11 of the last 17 winners of the race including four of the last five winners and six of the last ten. He has trained 13 winners in the race in total. Ruby Walsh holds the record for wins by a jockey, as he rode Kauto Star to victory in each of his five race wins.
Other big races on the two-day program include the Kauto Star Novices’ Chase, The Desert Orchid Chase, the Wayward Lad Novices’ Steeple Chase and the Mare’s Handicap Hurdle.
- Latest Betting from bet365 – To win King George VI Chase outright – Bravemansgame 2/1, Shishkin 7/2, Allaho 5/1, L’Homee Presse 8/1, Galopin Des Champs 9/1, Gerri Colombe 10/1, Protektorat 18/1, Hewick 20/1. 25/1 bar.
And Looking Forward…
And don’t think 2024 is going to be off to a slow start for sports fans either.
Early January will see the final round of NFL Regular Season games, with the Playoffs starting a week later with Wildcard Weekend.
We also have the third round of the FA Cup on the first weekend in January with the African Cup of Nations starting on the 13th January and the Australian Open tennis tournament starting just a day later.
Then in addition to all your annual sports events, 2024 will also see another Solheim Cup in golf, the 2024 European Championships in Germany and of course, the summer Olympic Games in Paris, France.
As you can see, sports fans need not be too concerned as there is not let up in fantastic sporting action to get your teeth into over the Christmas and New Year 2024 period and beyond!
