The Dallas Cowboys and Kansas Metropolis Chiefs are two of the NFL’s hottest groups, so why would not the league have them play on Thanksgiving?
On Wednesday, the league introduced the Cowboys will host the Chiefs on Nov. 27 (Week 13) at 4:30 p.m. ET on CBS/Paramount+. It is the primary time the groups have performed on Thanksgiving for the reason that 1995 season. Dallas won that matchup 24-12.
The Cowboys have performed on Thanksgiving each season since 1966. Their annual matchup usually scores huge rankings, even when it lacks star energy.
Final Thanksgiving, Dallas’ 27-20 victory over the New York Giants drew 38.5 million viewers, the fourth-highest TV ranking in Turkey Day historical past, via USA Today’s Nick Brinkerhoff.
That matchup featured former Cowboys backup quarterback Cooper Rush and former Giants backup QB Drew Lock. Cowboys beginning QB Dak Prescott did not play as a result of he had suffered a season-ending hamstring harm in a Week 9 loss to the Atlanta Falcons.
Think about what ought to occur when the league provides Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes, tight finish Travis Kelce and Kelce’s girlfriend, singer-songwriter Taylor Swift, to the combo.
“The considering, based mostly on speaking to quite a lot of completely different folks at completely different networks, is that the NFL thinks the sport can set a file for the most-viewed NFL regular-season sport in historical past,” wrote The Athletic’s Richard Deitsch in a Thursday column.
Essentially the most-watched regular-season sport in NFL historical past was within the 2022 season, when the Cowboys beat the Giants 28-20 on Thanksgiving. Per Deitsch, 42.1 million viewers watched that sport. He wrote the Cowboys-Chiefs matchup has an “exterior shot at reaching 50 million viewers if it is shut within the closing quarter.”
Outrageous ticket costs for the sport also needs to maintain loads of followers at residence. Citing information from Vivid Seats, ESPN’s Adam Schefter shared the typical ticket value for Cowboys-Chiefs was $1,491 on Thursday morning.
In response to Front Office Sports’ Rodney Reeves, the Chiefs had been the league’s most-watched group final common season (25.5 million viewers per sport). The Cowboys, in the meantime, tied the Baltimore Ravens because the third-most-watched group (23.14 million viewers per sport).
With that in thoughts, their Thanksgiving matchup needs to be appointment TV for a lot of followers, placing it ready to shatter data.
