The National Football League is considering scheduling a game on Thanksgiving Eve (the Wednesday before Thanksgiving), with the possibility of implementing it as early as the 2024 season, according to ESPN reporting.[1][2]

The exploration comes amid recent schedule expansions, including the addition of Black Friday games since 2023, Christmas Day contests and a Friday game after the regular-season opener, as well as increased international games in London, Germany and Brazil.[1][3]

In a statement on April 17, 2024, the NFL said: "Every offseason we look for new opportunities to best serve our fans in the schedule-making process. As Commissioner Roger Goodell has said, Thanksgiving and NFL football have become synonymous and, given the continued growth of fan interest around our games on Thanksgiving and Black Friday, looking for additional opportunities tied to this special holiday is exciting for us to explore."[1][2]

Thanksgiving Day games are among the most-viewed of the regular season. The 2023 tripleheader -- Detroit Lions vs. Green Bay Packers on CBS (33.1 million viewers), Dallas Cowboys vs. Washington Commanders on NBC (42.7 million) and San Francisco 49ers vs. Seattle Seahawks on Fox (27.1 million) -- averaged 34.3 million viewers.[4]

The inaugural Black Friday game in 2023 between the New York Jets and Miami Dolphins on Amazon Prime Video drew 9.7 million Nielsen viewers, with Amazon reporting more than 15 million global viewers.[4][5]

A Wednesday game would mark a rarity in the modern NFL era, with only four regular-season contests played on Wednesdays previously.[1]

Selected teams would likely receive a bye the prior week to accommodate the unusual timing.[1][2]

The league's 18-week, 17-game regular season schedule is typically released in the first or second week of May.[3]

Sources

1. ESPN, "Source: NFL exploring possibility of Thanksgiving Eve game this season", Diana Russini, April 17, 2024, https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/39924929/source-nfl-exploring-possibility-thanksgiving-eve-game-season
2. The Athletic, "NFL considering Thanksgiving Eve game this season", Charles Robinson and Diana Russini, April 17, 2024, https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5410575/2024/04/17/nfl-wednesday-game-before-thanksgiving/
3. NFL.com, "2024 NFL Schedule Release", May 15, 2024, https://www.nfl.com/news/2024-nfl-schedule-powered-by-aws-released-wednesday-night
4. Sports Media Watch, "2023 NFL Thanksgiving, Black Friday ratings", November 29, 2023, https://www.sportsmediawatch.com/2023/11/nfl-thanksgiving-black-friday-2023-ratings/
5. About Amazon, "Amazon’s Black Friday NFL game breaks records", November 27, 2023, https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/entertainment/prime-video-nfl-black-friday-game-record