Thanksgiving almost always produces the highest ratings of a given NFL season, but which games have delivered the top audiences on the holiday? If you guessed a Cowboys game, you would be right — Dallas has played in each of the 13 most-watched games on the holiday dating back to 1991 and 18 of the top 19.
Most-watched NFL Thanksgiving Day games
#1: 2022 Giants-Cowboys, 42.06 million viewers (FOX)
The Cowboys-Giants rivalry had been fairly irrelevant for years entering 2022, but a well-timed New York resurgence made their Thanksgiving Day matchup into a battle for the NFC East lead. Given the teams, the stakes and the addition of out-of-home viewership, it was no surprise that the game averaged more than 42 million viewers — the largest NFL regular season audience on record. (According to Sports TV Ratings, out-of-home viewing accounted for nearly 40 percent of the audience.)
#2: 2021 Raiders-Cowboys, 40.80 million viewers (CBS)
Nielsen began including out-of-home viewing in its viewership estimates in 2020, but the first sign of just how big an impact that move would have was when Raiders-Cowboys scored a Thanksgiving record 40.8 million viewers in 2021.
#3: 1993 Dolphins-Cowboys, 38.41 million viewers (NBC)
The infamous “Leon Lett game” stood as the most-watched NFL Thanksgiving Day game for 28 years until surpassed by Raiders-Cowboys in 2021, but still ranks #1 in household ratings with a whopping 18.6.
#4: 1995 Chiefs-Cowboys, 35.72 million viewers (NBC)
With Kansas City (10-1) and Dallas (9-2) a combined 19-3, their Thanksgiving 1995 matchup delivered a larger audience than any other NFL regular season game for the next 26 years.
#5: 2016 Washington-Dallas, 35.11 million viewers (FOX)
The Cowboys won their tenth-straight game — and went to 10-1 on the season — in front of a FOX audience of more than 35 million viewers, at the time the largest NFL audience since 1995.
#6: 1992 Giants-Cowboys, 33.79 million viewers (CBS)
The first Thanksgiving meeting between the Giants and Cowboys turned from relatively competitive (9-3 in the third quarter) into a 30-3 Dallas laugher — at the time, New York’s worst loss since 1980. (Dallas has trounced the Giants twice this season by even larger margins.) That was still enough to entertain an audience of nearly 34 million viewers in 1992, an era when alternative entertainment options were relatively limited.
#7: 1996 Washington-Dallas, 32.71 million viewers (FOX)
With rivals Dallas and Washington a game apart in the standings with the NFC East lead on the line, it would take 20 years before another Thanksgiving game would average a larger audience.
#8: 1998 Vikings-Cowboys, 32.68 million viewers (FOX)
In the midst of what would end up a 15-1 season (one need not discuss how it all ended), the Vikings won a high-scoring Thanksgiving duel with the Cowboys in which Randy Moss had just three catches — but scored long touchdowns on each.
#9: 2019 Bills-Cowboys, 32.64 million viewers (CBS)
Coming off of their first playoff appearance in the Josh Allen era — and only their second since 2000 — Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills reached 9-3 with a Thanksgiving Day win over the Cowboys.
#10: 2015 Panthers-Cowboys, 32.49 million viewers (CBS)
Cam Newton and the undefeated 2015 Panthers reached 11-0 in a game Tony Romo left midway due to injury (he was playing, not broadcasting for CBS).
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