NFL reportedly exploring playing Thanksgiving Eve game this season

The NFL is looking to add to its already expansive schedule.

In recent years, the NFL has scheduled games on Black Friday, Christmas and the Friday after the first regular-season game of the year while also expanding its international footprint.

Commissioner Roger Goodell is reportedly dipping into Thanksgiving week as the league is exploring the possibility of playing a game on Thanksgiving Eve and could implement a game as early as this season, according to ESPN’s reporting.

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NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell attends the 2026 NFL Pro Bowl at the Moscone Center South in San Francisco Feb. 3, 2026. The NFC won, 66–52. (Alika Jenner/Getty Images)

“Every offseason we look for new opportunities to best serve our fans in the schedule-making process,” the league said Wednesday in a statement. “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.”

Should the NFL add another game to its Thanksgiving week slate, it hopes to capitalize on the success of Black Friday games. The Chicago Bears played the Philadelphia Eagles last season on Black Friday, and the game averaged 16.3 million viewers on Amazon Prime Video.

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NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, left, greets fans during the first half of the NFL Pro Bowl in San Francisco Feb. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

Thanksgiving Day games have also brought in a lot of viewership for the NFL. They are among the most-watched games during the regular season. Last year’s slate averaged 44.7 million viewers, surpassing the 2024 mark of 34.5 million.

If the league goes ahead with a Thanksgiving Eve game, the teams likely would have a bye the previous week since playing a game on a Wednesday is unusual. There have only been four NFL games played on a Wednesday in the sport’s modern era.

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NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell speaks Feb. 2, 2026, during his state of the NFL news conference in San Jose, Calif., ahead of the Super Bowl between the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots. (AP Photo/Matt York)

Thanksgiving Eve would give the league nine major broadcast windows to fill. There also would be the spotlight games in the early and late-afternoon Sunday windows, Sunday night and Monday night.

The regular-season schedule is not expected to be released until the first or second week of May. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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