Every year at the end of November, families and friends gather in the USA to celebrate Thanksgiving. There’s one thing you definitely won’t miss out on: food and football in front of the flick box. Following this celebration, the league also follows up with something quite new.
Universally popular and established in the USA for decades: Thanksgiving in the National Football League.
imago images
Every year on the fourth Thursday in the month of November, the USA celebrates the national holiday Thanksgiving. Families and friends travel all over the country and spend their vacations together. As every year in many places, a huge feast is served on the table – and the American’s favorite sport is played on the Flimmerkiste from morning to night.
Thanksgiving has been a special holiday in North America since 1863 – and also a very special day in American football. The first two games have always been played in Detroit and Dallas for many, many years, the third match, which has only been practiced annually since 2006, takes place between two constantly changing teams. A full three-course football meal.
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It starts at 6:30 p.m. (CET) with the comparison between the Detroit Lions, who have been rebelling more and more for years, are currently – for the first time since 1934 (!) – at 10-1 and have won nine games in a row, and the ones after The Chicago Bears (4-7) had a good start to the season. An internal NFC North duel.
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This is followed from 10:30 p.m. (CET) by the obligatory home game of the Dallas Cowboys (4-7), who are completely behind their own and high expectations, and who meet the New York Giants (2-9), their recently released team, within the NFC East From now on, quarterback Daniel Jones will try his luck with the Minnesota Vikings (9-2).
In the night from Thursday to Friday (2:20 a.m. CET) there will be a real cracker: The Green Bay Packers, who are very well in the race with 8-3, are expecting the Miami Dolphins, who are in the AFC East, in freezing temperatures in their own Lambeau Field Although they are only 5-6 – they have been delivering powerfully for weeks with Tua Tagovailoa, who has returned and is fit again.
A small insert: The day after Thanksgiving, “Black Friday” takes place in modern America and around the world, when people hunt for discounts online or in stores. And the NFL is also hosting football entertainment in the form of a “Black Friday Game,” which is only happening for the second time. After the start twelve months ago with the comparison between the New York Jets and the Dolphins, when there was a strange 99-yard touchdown to marvel at, the AFC West matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs (10-1) now follows the top quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who is striving for less thrill, and the Las Vegas Raiders (2-9).
Tradition – in favor of two teams
But a big question arises when it comes to the triple action on Thanksgiving year after year in the NFL: Why are Detroit and Dallas always allowed to perform in front of their home crowd? Why do these two traditional franchises not have to travel far and can therefore look forward to a special image in the American football circus?
A clever businessman
Feast anchored in Thanksgiving: the Detroit Lions. 
imago images/Icon SMI
Die Story Detroit: It is probably less known in this country that the Lions have been able to play a home game on this US holiday for many decades. In the USA, on the other hand, this topic is omnipresent – and sometimes causes anger among other teams. Ultimately, every franchise wants to benefit from higher ratings and an exclusive TV slot and the increased interest that comes with it. But an old German saying fits this: Whoever comes first, first served!
And the Lions were the first team to step up and get the ball rolling on Thanksgiving a long time ago. The team was founded in Portsmouth in 1929 under the nickname Spartans. George Richards, former director of the radio station World Junior Records (WJR), shipped it to the big city of Detroit a little later.
In order to attract fans, the owner ordered football to be played on Thanksgiving Day in 1934. Here the potential supporters finally have time off and can spend time and money on “their” football team. The plan works: Since the clever manager Richards and his radio station were part of the “NBC Blue Network”, he got the superiors to broadcast the first game (16:19 defeat against Chicago) on 94 stations nationwide.
And although success from a purely sporting perspective cannot be determined for the Lions in all the years since (a manageable record of 37:45:2, most recently a narrow 22:29 against their NFC North rivals from Green Bay in 2023), it is Clear: Detroit has made a noticeable contribution to the fact that Thanksgiving is a football holiday with loved ones for countless Americans.
For the NFL itself, the Lions’ move and all of the measures in retrospect also turned out to be very successful, as they finally established a team in the “Motor City” in the fifth attempt. Detroit also secured the NFL title for the first time in 1935 – the same year that the Detroit Tigers won the World Series for the first time and shortly before the Detroit Red Wings won the Stanley Cup twice in a row (1936, 1937).
Cowboys secure second place
Story Dallas: The proud cowboys were allowed to play on Thanksgiving for the first time in 1966, before the procedure became regular from 1978 and continues to this day. And just like the Lions, the Texans’ creators are hoping to polish their image with this special holiday performance.
No sooner said than done – and once again there are clever planners at work here. Because the franchise established itself at that time under the legendary head coach Tom Landry, who coached between 1960 and 1988 and led the Cowboys to the Super Bowl in 1971/72 (24:3 against Miami) and 1977/78 (27:10 against Denver). -Victory leads. The great cowboys are born. The then General Manager Tex Schramm contributed enormously to the marketing success during this time – for example, he established the “Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders”.
The Thanksgiving record of Dallas, which is commonly referred to as “America’s Team” due to the large number of fans these days and won 45:10 against the Washington Commanders last year, is now as follows: 33 wins, 22 losses, one draw.
Game number 3
NFL fed up: Three games take place every year on Thanksgiving. 
IMAGO/NurPhoto
In short: Since 1934, the Lions have played their first Thanksgiving home game with regularity, before Dallas has always followed Detroit with a home game since 1978.
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However, in order to allow other of the 32 NFL teams to enjoy the game, the league has been holding a third, always flexible duel since 2006 (this time Packers vs. Dolphins). The additional benefit from this: over six hours of football entertainment becomes well over nine – and the US holiday Thanksgiving is completely in the hands of football in terms of media, which of course generates hefty profits for the NFL. Especially because a number of commercial companies can also place a lot of advertising for the upcoming “Black Friday” plus the subsequent “Cyber Monday”.
The most frequently played duels on Thanksgiving in history are the comparisons between Lions and Packers (22 games so far, record for Detroit with 12-9-1) and Lions vs. Bears (to date 19 games, record for Chicago with 11- 8). Also frequently played: Dallas vs. Washington (9-2).
