Packers win over Lions breaks NFL Thanksgiving Day record

by: Nick Geddes 6 hours ago NickGeddesNews

The Dallas Cowboys-Kansas City Chiefs late afternoon game on Thanksgiving Day shattered the NFL regular season viewership record. But before that game ever kicked off, the early afternoon game between the Green Bay Packers and the Detroit Lions broke the record first.

FOX Sports announced Wednesday that 47.7 million viewers watched the Packers’ 31-24 win over the Lions on FOX . Viewership peaked at 57.957 million viewers. It topped the previous record set on Thanksgiving in 2022, when 42 million viewers watched the Cowboys and New York Giants on  FOX . Additionally, it’s the most-watched early Thanksgiving game on record.

.@NFLONFOX feasts on #Thanksgiving with 47.7 million viewers (peaked at 57,957,000 from 4:00-4:15 PM ET) for @Packers–@Lions!

The Green Bay victory helped deliver the most-watched early #ThanksgivingDay game on record. pic.twitter.com/UOzuEIMiL9

— FOX Sports PR (@FOXSportsPR) December 3, 2025

But as this game came to an end, the Cowboys-Chiefs game began. According to  CBS Sports , 57.2 million viewers watched the Cowboys’ 31-28 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs on  CBS . Viewership peaked with more than 61 million viewers.

The Chiefs, led by  Patrick Mahomes  and  Travis Kelce  and carrying the  Taylor Swift  fanbase behind them, were the most-watched team in the league in 2024. The Cowboys are always near the top of that list. You can say the NFL knew what it was doing here, pitting these two teams against each other on Thanksgiving when a good chunk of the country is focused on food and football.

Both games broke a single-game regular season viewership record. You can guarantee the league is already thinking about next Thanksgiving and which matchups could attract a similar or even better audience.

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