You've probably wondered why, amidst the smell of roasting turkey and the inevitable family debates, the Detroit Lions and Dallas Cowboys are always on your TV screen. It’s basically a law of nature at this point. Every fourth Thursday in November, without fail, those two teams take the field while the rest of the league is (mostly) at home eating cranberry sauce.
But it’s not just about tradition for tradition’s sake. There’s a weird mix of marketing genius, desperate gimmicks, and billion-dollar television contracts keeping this alive.
The Lions Started the Party (Out of Desperation)
It all kicked off in 1934. George A. Richards had just bought the Portsmouth Spartans, moved them to Detroit, and renamed them the Lions. Honestly, nobody cared. The Detroit Tigers were the kings of the city, and Richards was struggling to sell tickets.
So, he took a massive gamble.
He scheduled a game on Thanksgiving Day against the Chicago Bears. People thought he was nuts—who would leave their family dinner to watch football? Well, 26,000 people, apparently. The stadium sold out, and they even had to turn fans away at the gates. Richards also happened to own a radio station with ties to NBC, so he used those connections to broadcast the game to 94 stations across the country.
Suddenly, the teams that play on thanksgiving nfl weren't just a local curiosity; they were a national event.
The Lions have played every Thanksgiving since then, except for a brief hiatus from 1939 to 1944 during World War II. They’ve seen the highs of the 1950s and the absolute lows of the "0-16" era, yet the holiday slot remains theirs. It’s the one day a year where Detroit is the center of the football universe, regardless of their record.
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Dallas Joins the Fray
If Detroit started the tradition, Dallas turned it into a spectacle. In 1966, Cowboys General Manager Tex Schramm—the guy who basically invented the modern NFL marketing machine—decided his young franchise needed more eyeballs.
He saw what Detroit was doing and wanted in.
The league was actually a bit worried that two games on Thanksgiving might be "overexposure." Yeah, looking back at the ratings now, that sounds hilarious. Schramm was so confident that he guaranteed the league a certain amount of gate revenue just to let him host the game.
The Cowboys played the Cleveland Browns at the Cotton Bowl, 80,000 people showed up, and "America’s Team" was born. Except for two years in the mid-70s (1975 and 1977) when the NFL tried to let the St. Louis Cardinals host instead, the Cowboys have held that late afternoon slot. Turns out, the Cardinals' games were a ratings flop, and the league came crawling back to Dallas, promising they’d never take the holiday away again.
The Modern Tripleheader: Who Else Gets to Play?
For a long time, it was just the Lions in the morning and the Cowboys in the afternoon. But the NFL is nothing if not hungry for more ad revenue. In 2006, they added a third game—the primetime "Night Cap."
Unlike the first two slots, the night game doesn't have a fixed host. It rotates.
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The league uses this slot to schedule "must-see" matchups, often divisional rivalries or games with massive playoff implications. In 2025, for example, we saw a brutal AFC North clash between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Baltimore Ravens. Before that, we've seen everything from the 49ers vs. Seahawks to the Bills vs. Saints.
The ratings for these games are essentially untouchable. The 2025 matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Dallas Cowboys actually shattered records, drawing 57.2 million viewers. To put that in perspective: that’s more people than the populations of several medium-sized countries combined, all watching Patrick Mahomes and Dak Prescott while trying to stay awake after too much Tryptophan.
Why Other Teams Don’t Get a Turn
Every few years, fans of other teams start complaining. "Why does Detroit get a national spotlight every year when they’re 3-8?" or "I'm tired of seeing the Cowboys."
The NFL hears you. They just don't care.
The reason is simple: consistency. Networks like FOX, CBS, and NBC build their entire holiday programming around these specific windows. Advertisers pay a premium because they know exactly what they’re getting.
There's also a logistical nightmare involved in switching hosts. The Lions and Cowboys have the stadium operations, the halftime shows (like Jack White or Post Malone in 2025), and the travel schedules down to a science. Most teams actually hate the short week that comes with a Thursday game. Detroit and Dallas have accepted it as the price of fame.
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All-Time Thanksgiving Standings (As of 2026)
| Team | Wins | Losses | Ties |
|---|---|---|---|
| Detroit Lions | 38 | 45 | 2 |
| Dallas Cowboys | 35 | 22 | 1 |
Note: The Lions have played the most games, hence the high loss count. They actually lost their 2025 game to the Packers, 31-24.
The "Madden" Factor and Turkey Legs
You can't talk about the teams that play on Thanksgiving without mentioning the late, great John Madden. In 2022, the NFL officially dubbed the holiday the "John Madden Thanksgiving Celebration."
Madden was the one who truly elevated the post-game ceremony. He started the tradition of awarding a turkey leg to the MVP of the game. It’s kind of gross if you think about it—a sweaty, 300-pound lineman gnawing on a drumstick in the middle of a field—but fans love it.
The 2025 season saw the tradition continue with a high-tech twist, but the core remains: football on Thanksgiving is the ultimate American "comfort food" broadcast.
How to Prepare for the Next Holiday Slate
If you’re planning on catching the games this year, keep a few things in mind:
- The Schedule Never Changes: The Lions will always kick off around 12:30 or 1:00 PM ET. The Cowboys will always follow at 4:30 PM ET. The night game is the only one you'll need to check the schedule for.
- Check the Streaming: While CBS and FOX still own the afternoon, the night game often hops between NBC and streaming platforms like Peacock or Amazon Prime.
- Watch the "Short Week" Factor: Teams playing on Thanksgiving usually have a major advantage if they played at home the previous Sunday. If a team has to travel halfway across the country on a 3-day turnaround, they often look sluggish in the first half.
The tradition of the teams that play on thanksgiving nfl is one of the few things in professional sports that feels permanent. Even as the league expands to games in London, Germany, and Brazil, the fourth Thursday in November remains anchored in Detroit and Arlington. It’s a mix of history, habit, and huge ratings that isn't going anywhere.
Check your local listings for the specific kickoff times this year, as the NFL has been experimenting with pushing the Lions' start time back by 30 minutes to capture more West Coast viewers. If you're looking to attend in person, tickets for the Cowboys' game usually go on sale in May and sell out within minutes of the official schedule release. For a more "old school" feel, Ford Field in Detroit offers a unique indoor atmosphere that makes the November Michigan cold a non-issue.