Here's Why The Detroit Lions, Dallas Cowboys Always Have Thanksgiving Day NFL Games

Chris Katje

November 27, 2024

The Detroit Lions and Dallas Cowboys traditionally play on Thanksgiving, making NFL games a key part of the holiday, alongside family gatherings and feasts. It is also a day off for the country's major stock markets.

Along with the Lions and Cowboys, four other NFL teams will be featured across three NFL games on Thanksgiving Day.

Lions and Cowboys Thanksgiving Day Games: Dating back to 1934, the Detroit Lions have played in the annual Thanksgiving Day game. The lone exceptions were the 1939 through 1944 seasons that weren’t played due to World War II. The games have become a staple for the National Football League.

The idea for the Thanksgiving Day game was created by former Lions owner G.A. Richards as a way to increase attendance and media hype for the team. Richards purchased the Portsmouth (Ohio) Spartans and moved them to Detroit before the tradition began.

The first Thanksgiving Day game was watched by more than 26,000 fans.

The Dallas Cowboys played on Thanksgiving Day in 1966, beating the Cleveland Browns 26-14. The Cowboys’ first Thanksgiving Day game was attended by 80,259 people. The Cowboys have played a Thanksgiving Day game every year since except 1975 and 1977.

Similar to the Lions, the Cowboys saw the holiday as a way to create more national media attention for the team.

The Lions created the concept, and the game pre-dates the Super Bowl and many of the NFL teams being created, which makes tradition the biggest reason why the Lions and Cowboys play in their respective games annually.

In 2006, the NFL added a prime-time Thanksgiving Day game that features two rotating teams.

Thanksgiving Day Stats: The Lions lost its first Thanksgiving Day game and haven’t had success in many of the contests: the franchise holds an all-time 37-45-2 record in Thanksgiving Day games. The Lions have lost seven straight Thanksgiving Day games heading into the 2024 contest.

As the creators of the game concept, the Lions have the most Thanksgiving Day wins with 37, but one of the worst records overall.

The Cowboys have had better success in their games, holding an all-time-record of 33-22-1.

While they don’t play every year, two other teams largely featured are the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers, which hold all-time Thanksgiving Day records of 20-15-2 and 15-20-2, respectively. Both the Bears and Packers play on Thursday.

The Jacksonville Jaguars are the only NFL team to never play in a Thanksgiving Day game. Several teams have never won on Thanksgiving Day, with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Cincinnati Bengals each holding a 0-1 record.

Read Also: Sports Illustrated Predicts Detroit Lions To Win Super Bowl: Here’s How Much $100 Bet Could Pay If History Is Made

2024 Thanksgiving Day Games: Here’s a look at the three 2024 Thanksgiving Day games, how to watch and the betting odds.

Chicago Bears (4-7) at Detroit Lions (10-1): 12:30 p.m. ET on CBS, a unit of Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA)(NASDAQ:PARAA)
New York Giants (2-9) at Dallas Cowboys (4-7): 4:30 p.m. ET on FOX, a unit of Fox Corporation (NASDAQ:FOX)(NASDAQ:FOXA)
Miami Dolphins (5-6) at Green Bay Packers (8-3): 8:20 p.m. on NBC, a unit of Comcast Corp (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

The Giants are 7-6-3 all-time in Thanksgiving Day matches and the Dolphins are 5-2 all-time on Thanksgiving Day.

All three home teams are the favorites in their Thursday games. Betting odds from DraftKings Inc (NASDAQ:DKNG) show the Lions favored by 9.5 points, the Cowboys favored by 3.5 points and the Packers favored by 3.5 points.

Betting on all three favorites to win pays out with odds of +212, which would turn $100 bet into a profit of $212 if the Lions, Cowboys and Packers all win. Betting on all three favorites to cover the spread and win by the totals listed above would pay out at +638, turning $100 bet into a profit of $638 if all three teams cover.

Betting favorites on Thanksgiving Day are 48-9 straight up and 38-19 against the spread since 2004, according to data from Action Network.

A win by the Bears could be one of the biggest upsets on Thanksgiving Day since 1980 depending on where the spread closes. The current record is the Dolphins beating the Cowboys as 10-point underdogs in 1993. The Packers win over the Lions in 2023 as 8.5-point underdogs ranks second.

Why It's Important: The Thanksgiving Day NFL games could be part of a huge week for sportsbooks. Macquarie analyst Chad Beynon estimates $4.5 billion will be bet by U.S. bettors over Thanksgiving week from Nov. 25 to Dec. 1, as reported by Casino.org.

This figure would be up 11% year-over-year and comes with a record 38 states and Washington D.C. allowing legal sports betting for this year's Thanksgiving Day games.

Prime-time games, which typically occur at nighttime often see increased betting with more viewers watching. The three Thanksgiving Day games could all be treated like prime-time games according to Beynon.

The Thanksgiving Day games feature the red-hot Lions who have won nine games in a row and are the current betting favorites to win Super Bowl LIX. The Lions are one of only four teams to never make a Super Bowl appearance.

DraftKings lists the Lions as the Super Bowl favorites at +250, ranking ahead of the Kansas City Chiefs (+450), who are seeking a third-straight championship. The Packers rank sixth with odds of +1,600 and the Dolphins have odds of +9,000.

The other Thursday teams (Giants, Bears, Cowboys) all have odds of +100,000 to win Super Bowl LIX as all will likely miss making the NFL Playoffs.

Read Next:

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This article was previously published by Benzinga and has been updated.

This image used was created using artificial intelligence MidJourney.

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