The NFL Is Reportedly Considering Adding Another Holiday Game This Season
The NFL has been stretching its scheduling tentacles over the last few seasons. Christmas Day. Black Friday. International expansion, including Week 1 games in South America. The league has stopped at nothing to continue making inroads on the American sports calendar.
Now, another change is reportedly being considered. According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, the NFL is exploring the possibility of playing a game on Thanksgiving Eve for the first time, potentially as early as this season.
NFL now is exploring playing a game on Thanksgiving Eve as early as this season. This year this would be Wednesday, Nov. 25. pic.twitter.com/ZFTrOIjTYV
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 11, 2026
What is the NFL's current Thanksgiving schedule?
For the last 20 seasons, the NFL has played three games on Thanksgiving Day, with 2020 being the lone exception due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Dallas Cowboys and Detroit Lions each host a Thanksgiving game, per longstanding tradition, with a third matchup taking place in primetime.
Since 2023, the NFL has incorporated a Black Friday game into the mix. Commissioner Roger Goodell said last season that the league is considering adding a second Black Friday contest down the road.
“We’re going to look at everything, I would expect there will be changes going forward,” Goodell told the Wall Street Journal.
According to ESPN, should the NFL schedule a Thanksgiving Eve game this season, it would lock in a stretch of seven days worth of NFL games in a nine-day span.
Is all of this change a good thing?
Well, that is up for debate. There will undoubtedly be some grumbling about the NFL taking up another day on the calendar, particularly on a holiday and especially if the league decides to exclusively stream any Thanksgiving Eve matchup.
Still, we wouldn't expect any of this to affect the league's bottom line. People may lament the NFL's apparent greed, but it isn't stopping them from tuning in to watch the product year after year.
We don't think that is going to change.