Having sports events on Christmas day would undermine a holiday that is seen as a time for families to come together as it would deny a large amount .

It wouldn't just be sports players who have the right to some rest who would be affected. Other services like the emergency services especially the police and emergency services who normally have skeleton crews would not be able to do so because of the increased amounts of people going to sport . Also what about the media who cover sport. Most sports channels show repeats in the UK and it would mean extra travelling. In short it would deny a significant amount of a people a traditional public holiday that allows people to spend time with their families.

In the UK transport services are traditionally shut down on Christmas Day and run a limited service on Christmas Eve and Boxing day meaning that people would have a hard time getting to games. Also sports events on Christmas Day could increase pressure on local councils if there was snow or large amounts of black ice as a result of cold temperatures. Currently councils have limits on how much salt they can buy and Christmas day would strain those limits. This is amongst a number of factors that would be a disincentive to having professional sports events on christmas

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/2008/dec/24/debate-christmas-day]]