NFL taps Chiefs as Cowboys' Thanksgiving opponent

DETROIT, MI - NOVEMBER 28: The NFL John Madden Thanksgiving logo is seen on the field before the start of an NFL regular season Thanksgiving Day football game between the Chicago Bears and the Detroit Lions on November 28, 2024 at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Scott W. Grau/Icon Sportswire)

The NFL appears to be going all-in on maximizing its ratings this season, slotting the Chiefs to turbocharge what is usually the most-watched window of the season — the Cowboys Thanksgiving Day game.

The Chiefs have been named the Cowboys’ opponent for their Thanksgiving Day game, which will air on CBS, it was announced Wednesday. Kansas City has not played on Thanksgiving in the Patrick Mahomes era, their last appearance on the holiday coming in 2006 against the Broncos (the first NFL game on NFL Network).

The Cowboys Thanksgiving game is a foolproof TV window that would deliver the largest audience of an NFL season regardless of the opponent. Last year’s matchup against the Giants was the most-watched of the season despite the teams’ combined 6-16 record. As a result, the NFL has tended to avoid scheduling blockbuster matchups for that window — instead opting for divisional rivals (the Commanders and Giants) or up-and-coming teams (the 2019 Bills and the 2021 Raiders).

Though it was the top game of the season, Giants-Cowboys was also the least-watched Dallas game on Thanksgiving since 2020, and the first since that year not to hit the 40 million mark. Scheduling the Chiefs means not only that the league will avoid a repeat of last year’s four-year low, but creates the possibility of a new record-high.

The current Thanksgiving record of 42.1 million was set by Giants-Cowboys in 2022, when New York had an unexpectedly good season and the matchup determined supremacy in the NFC East. (It did not hurt that FOX had the FIFA World Cup as a promotional platform.)

That is not the only evidence of a change in strategy this season. The league has also scheduled Cowboys-Eagles for Opening Night, marking just the third time Dallas has been set for the annual Kickoff Game. While the Kickoff Game is not foolproof in the same vein as Thanksgiving, the league has generally avoided scheduling its best possible matchups for that window.

The NFL is coming off of a minuscule two percent decline in viewership for last year’s regular season.

Tags: NFL on CBS NFL on Thanksgiving NFL Schedule Release

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Comments 9

Jtk1 says:

1 year ago

I have no problem with the Thanksgiving games, however, I figured the Chiefs wanted to be the Black Friday every year, so I was surprised to hear they are playing on Thanksgiving this year and not the next day.
- Rick James Bible Owner says:
  
  1 year ago
  
  It was every Christmas that the Chiefs wanted to be on in perpetuity, not Black Friday. Clark*space*Hunt and the Chiefs spent years trying to be the Grinches that Stole the Lions 12:30 (now 1:00) Thanksgiving slot and somehow Generalissimo Goodell didn’t chase the last dollar and end the tradition the Lions started…..when in the late 2000s, he should have, being perfectly honest.
  - Rick James Bible Owner says:
    
    1 year ago
    
    *I meant to say that the Chiefs *most recently* wanted to be on every Christmas in perpetuity, and the NFL said no. My apologies*
Rick James Bible Owner says:

1 year ago

Short of Tony Romo wanting to share a turkey leg with the Mahomes family afterwards, yeah, I totally agree with the early comments about this as unneccesary. The NFL’s new ‘scorched Earth’ policy is to try to vaporize the competition—NBA on Christmas, CFP 3rd December Saturday. Is murdering the college basketball game on Fox after the Lions Thanksgiving game worth this? This isn’t Fox shoehorning Texas-anOSU into a Noon slot because of a rich, yet poorly rigid B1G TV deal, it’s the NFL. The NFL will always be Godzilla in this country; it seems it’s starting to like stepping on a building or two more and more.
Rob says:

1 year ago

Pretty bizarre to see that strong of a matchup, can’t remember the last time Dallas played someone this strong on thanksgiving. I do think this game has the potential to hit 50 million.
Nate Johnson says:

1 year ago

The only understanding I have of this is to boost the value of Thanksgiving games in the next negotiating rounds. I don’t see Thanksgiving games (Lions’ and Cowboys’ games; I’ll discuss Primetime Thanksgiving game in the next block) apart of the Sunday Afternoon packages in the next media discussions. Thanksgiving could be added to Netflix portfolio along with Christmas, Wildcard Playoff game, multiple International Slates, and a couple of few Super Bowls in the next media deal. In order to get the most out of Thanksgiving value, you can’t put together any matchup against the Lions and Cowboys even though those present the top RS ratings of the entire season on a consistent base. So this definitely really good for the NFL when they’re seeing how they can turn Thanksgiving games into another cash flow instead of a toss-in to the Sunday Afternoon package.

As far as Thanksgiving Primetime goes, I won’t be surprised if Amazon lures that into their Thursday Night package away from NBC assuming they don’t look much further than that in the next media agreement. I’m not high on the Black Friday game. Maybe a lot of that has to do with the first game not having a blast off start (Aaron Rodgers injury drove the value of that Dolphins/Jets game down significantly). I don’t see the Black Friday becoming a signature NFL tradition where they will look to add more games on that day. So for Amazon, why not bring in the Thanksgiving Primetime and have a rare 2 consecutive NFL standalone games on your platform?
- Justin says:
  
  1 year ago
  
  I don’t watch the Black Friday game, it is a college day, unless the game is close in the last few minutes, I will not watch it. I also don’t watch the Christmas game on Neflix, keep on a on over the air tv. The NFL is getting to greedy and i will watch less as a result of that.
ESL says:

1 year ago

Very disappointing in this schedule. This game is not needed on Thanksgiving. As the article noted, the Cowboys Thanksgiving game is the most viewed of the season. The Chiefs-Cowboys only comes along every 4 seasons. Why waste on Thanksgiving. I want to see this game on a Sunday or Monday night. Thanksgiving is for the casuals who put the game on in the background. Would have been ok with any other matchup.
sunrise089 says:

1 year ago

Selfishly I like this, since I’m a big enough fan to watch pretty much everything, while the strong matchup will be a more entertaining game for my family of casuals.

But I can’t help but feel this is a mistake overall. Game scheduling is a zero sum game, and afternoon windows in the middle of a season are going to be weaker. Maybe this sort of matchup will ultimately drive more total viewers, but my guess is there are diminishing returns at play.