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Why the Detroit Lions play on Thanksgiving each year
Ever wonder when the Lions began the tradition of playing on turkey day? Fox 2's Kellie Rowe has the answer.
DETROIT (FOX 2) - Turkey, gravy, and the Detroit Lions. It's an NFL tradition that dates back decades. Long before you or your parents were alive or the seats at Ford Field – or even the Pontiac Silverdome – were full of fans in Lions gear, the Detroit football team has played on Thanksgiving Day. And likely always will.
It all started for George A. Richards as a gimmick to get Detroiters in the seats to watch the relocated Detroit Lions play their games and it's now a holiday tradition.
Since 1934, the boys in Honolulu blue have been hitting the field as we stuff our faces with turkey and gravy.
That year, Richards had just bought the Portsmouth Spartans for a measly $8,000 and moved the Ohio franchise to Detroit. But he needed fans in the stands. So he established the Lions Thanksgiving Day game as a gimmick to get them there.
Being the radio executive he was, he convinced NBC to air his games live.
How to watch Detroit Lions vs. Green Bay Packers on FOX 2 for Thanksgiving
As usual, the kickoff is earlier for Thanksgiving. The game will air live at 12:30 p.m. on FOX 2. You can watch every play on FOX 2 or on the FOX Sports app – with TV authentication required.
However, there were no Lions Thanksgiving games between 1939 and 1944. Between 1939-40, President Franklin Roosevelt moved the holiday to be celebrated a week earlier, hoping it would bolster retail sales during the tail end of the Great Depression. The controversial move was dubbed Franksgiving and only half of the country participated, making scheduling Thanksgiving games tricky.
From 1940-44, there were no games due to World War II but the tradition returned in 1945. It would be another 20 years before the Dallas Cowboys joined the tradition.
As for Richards' original plan, it worked! The team had never gotten more than 15,000 fans to come to games that first year. But on Thanksgiving, 26,000 Lions fans made their way to the University of Detroit to watch the Lions that year. On top of that, another 20,000 fans had to be turned away because the stands were full!
The Lions all time record on Thanksgiving is 37-44-2. They're favored to get another W on Thursday against Green Bay.