The start of the NFL season is still months away, but one can never plan too early for football. In that sprit, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has already announced a scheduling change for the 2025 season, and it involves the Detroit Lions.
The change has to do with the team’s annual Thanksgiving game. Don’t worry too much. He’s not ripping it from the Lions, but he is changing it a bit.
Detroit Lions’ Thanksgiving Game Time Change
It’s a longstanding family tradition for many Michiganders to watch the Detroit Lions’ Thanksgiving day game while getting together with family and friends to celebrate the holiday. According to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the tradition dates back to 1934, when Detroit hosted the Chicago Bears. It’s really difficult to imagine Thanksgiving without a Lions game, whether they win or lose. Winning is always better, of course.
Now, Goodell tells Pat McAfee that the NFL is planning a change to the Thanksgiving schedule to have it more resemble the normal kickoff times on any given Sunday. With this change, the Lions game would kick off at 1 p.m., with the other games starting at 4:25 p.m. and 8:15 p.m. Eastern time. The Detroit game usually starts at 12:30 p.m. Eastern time.
“One little small change: We’re probably going to move from a 12:30 Eastern kickoff back to 1,” Goodell said in the April 25 interview. “We’ll go back to the traditional windows, start at 1, roll right into Dallas, and then in prime time.”
Even though Goodell called this a “little small change,” it will certainly be of interest to Lions fans who arrange their Thanksgiving plans around the game, so take note. Also, he said “probably,” so it’s not set in stone, but Goodell sounds pretty certain that the NFL will be making this change.
In some positive news, Goodell said that he believes both the Detroit Lions and Dallas Cowboys, who also traditionally host a Thanksgiving home game, have established themselves as the traditional homes for Thanksgiving games and he doesn’t think that will change. It has always been a concern for Lions followers that the game might be ripped away from the team, especially during the team’s more dismal seasons, but he sounds all in. Goodell also said the NFL would keep picking a high-profile game to display on Thanksgiving night.
Detroit Lions at the Helm of Another Big Game
The NFL made another Detroit Lions announcement last week, stating that the team will welcome the Los Angeles Chargers for the 2025 Hall of Fame Game on Thursday, July 31, in Canton, Ohio, as part of Enshrinement Week. The game will air on NBC and Peacock with Mike Tirico, Cris Collinsworth, Melissa Stark and Terry McAulay doing on-air coverage. Welcome back to the Midwest, Jim Harbaugh.
“This game features two teams that can be considered legitimate contenders to reach Super Bowl LX next February,” Jim Porter, president and CEO of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, said in a statement. “For them to face each other right out of the gate in Canton, Ohio, should create a dynamic opening to another spectacular NFL season.”
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