Editing Boxing Day (section)

== Sport ==

[[File:MCG stands.jpg|thumb|[[Boxing Day Test]] at the [[Melbourne Cricket Ground]], 2006]]

[[File:Keswick Boxing Day hunt 1962.jpg|thumb|right|Boxing Day Meet of the Blencathra Foxhounds in Keswick, 1962]]

In the United Kingdom, it is traditional for the [[Home Nations]]' major [[Association football|football]] leagues (including, most prominently, the [[Premier League]],  [[Scottish Premiership]], and [[NIFL Premiership]]) to hold a full programme of fixtures on Boxing Day. Originally, matches on Boxing Day were played against [[local derby|local rivals]] so that teams and their fans would not have to travel long distances to away games on the day after Christmas. The 2022 [[Premier League]] Boxing Day fixtures saw the return of domestic top flight football for the [[2022-23 Premier League|2022–23 Premier League]] season, following the six-week break for the [[2022 FIFA World Cup]].<ref>{{Cite news |title=How the 2022 World Cup will affect the 2022/23 Premier League season |url=https://talksport.com/football/924633/how-will-2022-world-cup-affect-premier-league-fixtures-schedules-qatar-boxing-day-start-end-date/ |access-date=8 May 2022 |website=talkSPORT |language=en-US}}</ref>

In Italy, Boxing Day football was played for the first time in the [[2018–19 Serie A|2018–19 Serie A season]]. The experiment was successful, with Italian stadiums 69% full on average – more than any other match day in December 2018.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://sporvision.com/2019/italys-boxing-day/ | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190106055212/https://sporvision.com/2019/italys-boxing-day/ | url-status=usurped | archive-date=6 January 2019 | title=Italy's Boxing Day | publisher=Sporvision.com}}</ref>

In [[rugby league]], festive fixtures were a staple of the traditional winter season. Since the transition to a summer season in the 1990s, no formal fixtures are now arranged on Boxing Day but some clubs, such as [[Wakefield Trinity]], arrange a traditional [[local derby]] friendly fixture instead.

Since 1980, the [[Australia national cricket team|Australian cricket team]] has traditionally opened one of the [[Test cricket|test matches]] of its summer season [[Boxing Day Test|on Boxing Day]] at the [[Melbourne Cricket Ground]]. While several test matches had occasionally been held at the MCG around Boxing Day, it was not until 1980 that the concept was formalized by the [[Cricket Australia|Australian Cricket Board]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=24 December 2016 |title=The surprisingly short history of the Boxing Day Test |language=en-AU |work=ABC News |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-12-25/boxing-day-test-match-tradition-has-short-history-at-mcg/8135852 |access-date=11 October 2023}}</ref> The [[Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race]] is also traditionally held on Boxing Day.<ref>{{cite news |date=29 December 2001 |title=Tough legacy of a Sydney classic |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/other_sports/sailing/1721104.stm |access-date=24 May 2010}}</ref>

In horse racing, there is the [[King George VI Chase]] at [[Kempton Park Racecourse]] in Surrey, England. It is the second most prestigious [[National Hunt racing|chase]] in Britain, after the [[Cheltenham Gold Cup]]. In addition to the prestigious race at Kempton, in Britain, it is usually the day with the most racing meetings of the year, with eight in 2016, in addition to three more in Ireland.<ref>{{cite web|title=Racecards – 26th December 2016|work=Racing Post|url=https://www.racingpost.com/results/2016-12-26}}</ref> In Barbados, the final day of horse racing is held on Boxing Day at The Historic Garrison Savannah, a UNESCO world heritage site. This tradition has been going on for decades in this former British colony.

Boxing Day is one of the main days in the hunting calendar for [[List of foxhound packs of the United Kingdom|hunts]] in the UK and US, with most hunts (both mounted foxhound or harrier packs and foot packs of beagles or bassets) holding meets, often in town or village centres.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/countryside/10538429/Hundreds-of-thousands-turn-out-for-Boxing-Day-hunts.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/countryside/10538429/Hundreds-of-thousands-turn-out-for-Boxing-Day-hunts.html |archive-date=10 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Hundreds of thousands turn out for Boxing Day hunts|date=26 December 2013 |work=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |location=London |access-date=21 December 2014}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

Several [[ice hockey]] contests are associated with the day. The [[IIHF World Junior Championship]] typically begins on 26 December, while the [[Spengler Cup]] also begins on 23 December in [[Davos]], Switzerland; the Spengler Cup competition includes [[HC Davos]], [[Canada men's national ice hockey team|Team Canada]], and other top European hockey teams. The [[National Hockey League]] traditionally had close to a full slate of games (10 were played in 2011<ref>{{cite web|title=NHL Hockey Schedule for December 26, 2011|url=http://www.nhl.com/ice/schedulebyday.htm?date=12/26/2011|access-date=27 August 2014}}</ref>), following the league-wide days off given for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. However, the 2013 collective bargaining agreement (which followed [[2012–13 NHL lockout|a lock-out]]) extended the league mandate of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day off to include Boxing Day, except when it falls on a Saturday, in which case the league can choose to make 23 December a league-wide off day instead for that year.<ref name="NHL CBA">{{cite web|title=National Hockey League CBA|url=http://www.nhl.com/nhl/en/v3/ext/CBA2012/NHL_NHLPA_2013_CBA.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.nhl.com/nhl/en/v3/ext/CBA2012/NHL_NHLPA_2013_CBA.pdf |archive-date=9 October 2022 |url-status=live |page=101—not digital page 101 but the printed 101 |publisher=[[National Hockey League]] |access-date=27 August 2014}}</ref> In Sweden, the related sport of [[bandy]] is also associated with the day, with [[Saint Stephen's Day bandy]] games having become an established tradition.<ref>{{cite web |title=Annandagsidrott med traditioner |url=https://www.sydsvenskan.se/2017-12-26/annandagsidrott-med-traditioner |access-date=1 March 2020 |website=Sydsvenskan|date=26 December 2017 }}</ref>

In some African [[Commonwealth of Nations|Commonwealth]] nations, particularly Ghana, Uganda, Malawi, Zambia, and Tanzania, [[professional boxing]] contests are held on Boxing Day. This practice has also been followed for decades in Guyana and Italy.<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB126179017496705483 | title = Season's Beatings: 'Boxing Day' Takes a Pugilistic Turn | access-date =14 November 2011 | last = Millman | first = Joel | date = 28 December 2009 | newspaper = [[The Wall Street Journal]] |edition=Asia}}</ref>