Why are there NFL matches on Thanksgiving?
- Published
Since the National Football League's inception in 1920, teams have traditionally held matches on Thanksgiving as part of the yearly celebrations.
The Detroit Lions have hosted an annual Thanksgiving match since 1934, with the Dallas Cowboys also holding an annual home match since 1966, barring two exceptions in 1975 and 1977.
In 2006, a third match was added as the regular Thursday Night Football match, with the other Thanksgiving games taking place earlier in the day.
There is also a match taking place on Friday night as part of Black Friday, which has been part of the schedule since 2023.
The Thanksgiving fixture's origins date back to the 19th century, shortly after the invention of American Football. This was due to most people have a day off work for Thanksgiving, allowing matches to be played on those days.
College football teams at Yale and Princeton began an annual tradition of playing each other on Thanksgiving Day, which later led to further university teams hosting regular Thanksgiving matches.
On a regular weekend during the season, most matches take place across three slots on a Sunday, with one match on a Thursday night and one on a Monday night.
From 2001, Thanksgiving matches were rebranded as the Thanksgiving Classic. In 2022, they were renamed as the John Madden Thanksgiving Classic, in honour of former NFL head coach and broadcaster John Madden, who died in December 2021.
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Which NFL matches are on Thanksgiving and Black Friday in 2025?
NFL teams playing matches on Thanksgiving often eat turkey as part of celebrations after matches
All times listed in GMT:
Thursday, 27 November: Green Bay Packers @ Detroit Lions (18:00)
Thursday, 27 November: Kansas City Chiefs @ Dallas Cowboys (21:30)
Friday, 28 November: Cincinnati Bengals @ Baltimore Ravens (01:20)
Friday, 28 November: Chicago Bears @ Philadelphia Eagles (20:00)
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