Why do the Cowboys, Lions always play on Thanksgiving?

Watching football on Thanksgiving has become a tradition for millions of families across the country. If your family is one of those, you may have noticed that two teams seem to always play on Thanksgiving: the Lions and the Cowboys.

While there's no official contract that these two teams must play every Thanksgiving, it's been a constant tradition for decades. The Lions began playing on Thanksgiving back in 1934, while the Cowboys began their Thanksgiving games in 1966. So, it's definitely not a new tradition by any means.

So, how did these traditions begin? Here's the history behind the Lions and Cowboys always playing on Thanksgiving.

Which NFL teams always play on Thanksgiving?

Detriot Lions

This year marks the 83rd time the Lions have played on Thanksgiving, which is the most any team has played on the holiday. Their matchup with the Bills will mark just the third time that they have played Buffalo on Thanksgiving Day; Detroit won the previous two meetings 27-14 in 1976 and 35-21 in 1994.

The Thanksgiving game tradition began in Detriot back in 1934. The then-team owner George A. Richards had purchased the Lions earlier that year, and he wanted to build a fanbase. So, he decided to host the back-to-back world champions, the Chicago Bears.

The Bears won the first Thanksgiving game 19-16 with 26,000 fans in attendance. Since then, Detriot has hosted a Thanksgiving game every year, save for a six-year period from 1939-1944 during World War II. 

MORE: Why the Cowboys always play on Thanksgiving

Dallas Cowboys

In 1966, the Cowboys joined the Lions' Thanksgiving tradition by hosting their own Thanksgiving game. The Cowboys general manager at the time, Tex Schramm, wanted the team to have more national attention, so he decided to have the Cowboys host a holiday game. They played the Browns and won 26-14 in front of around 80,000 fans. 

Since this first game, the Cowboys have played on every Thanksgiving except in 1975 and 1977. The reason for this was that the NFL wanted to see if the St. Louis Cardinals — an NFL team at the time — could gain traction by playing on the holiday.

The two Cardinals games were failures, so the tradition returned to Dallas in 1978 and has remained there since.

MORE: Why the Lions always play on Thanksgiving

NFL teams Thanksgiving game appearances

Here are the number of appearances for all NFL teams on Thanksgiving, including the games in 2023.

Note: The only team that has never played on Thanksgiving is the Jacksonville Jaguars.

What teams have never played on Thanksgiving?

There remains just one team that the NFL hasn't yet played on Thanksgiving: the Jaguars.

Jacksonville has had an NFL team since 1995 but hasn't yet enjoyed much success. The Jaguars finished with the No. 1 pick in back-to-back drafts in 2021 and 2022, and given that they are in a smaller market, it makes sense that the NFL would look to schedule other teams for these marquee spots.

Despite the Jaguars' surprise run to an AFC South title and the divisional round last season, the league didn't put Jacksonville in a Thanksgiving slot this year. With Trevor Lawrence and Doug Pederson restoring credibility to the franchise, however, it's certainly possible the opportunity comes along at some point in the near future.

Sporting News' Dan Treacy also contributed to this report.