The thought of the American holiday of Thanksgiving conjures up several images – roasted turkey with all the traditional side dishes, family and friends gathering together to share their gratitude, and football.
The Detroit Lions, in particular, are a part of that Thanksgiving tradition. The Lions and the Dallas Cowboys are the two NFL teams that always host turkey day games. Here’s a look at how that tradition came about.
Why Do the Detroit Lions Always Play on Thanksgiving?
The Lions are one of the oldest franchises in the league. They began as the Portsmouth (Ohio) Spartans in 1929 until George A. Richards bought the team and moved them to Motown in 1934.
Richards, a radio executive, changed the name of the team in 1934, and they won the NFL Championship the very next season. They were wildly successful in the 1950s, winning championships three times. Since then, they have shown flashes of success with some Hall of Fame players like Barry Sanders.
Their Thanksgiving tradition began the same year they changed their name in 1934, and it’s impossible to think of football and the holiday without thinking of the Lions.
It began when Richards started looking for a way to attract more fans. He decided that playing a game on the holiday might work, and it was an instant hit.
Prior to that first Thanksgiving game, the Lions had struggled to compete with the Detroit Tigers for fans’ attention. However, that first year, Richards sold out the stadium, and fans were turned away at the gate.
This only increased the desire to be a part of the game in subsequent years, and the event became a major attraction.
Looks like Cletus the robot is blowing off some steam or you can see his breath. Talking #Packers #Lions broadcast Thanksgiving preps on @CBS58 at noon pic.twitter.com/g23WFDR6je
— Lance Allan (@lanceallan) November 26, 2025
While the Lions didn’t win that first game against the Chicago Bears, the tradition stuck. Since then, the Lions have continued to struggle to find their footing in the league, but the game never fails to attract viewers.
Richards wasn’t the first owner to play a game on Thanksgiving, but he did something none of them ever had: he used his connections in the media to get the game televised. Richards hammered out a deal with NBC to air the games on 94 stations all over the country.
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The Lions have always played the early game, and the Cowboys play the late game. The league has added a prime time game to the schedule, which rotates between teams.
For the 2025 holiday schedule, the Lions will host the Green Bay Packers, while the Cowboys will face the Kansas City Chiefs in Arlington, Texas. The prime time game is the Cincinnati Bengals at the Baltimore Ravens.
Headed into their 2025 game, the Lions are 38-45-2. They enter this game against their divisional foe with a record of 7-4, while the Packers are 7-3-1.
According to PFSN’s metric, the Lions’ offense has an Offensive Impact score of B- and a Defensive Impact grade of B-. The Lions need to beat the Packers to keep their playoff hopes alive.