In the United States it has become tradition to watch a National Football League Football (NFL) game the day of Thanksgiving. American Football has become the most popular sport in the United States surpassing other US sports in attendance on average per game.
However, Football has not always been in existence and certainly was not around during the First Thanksgiving. It was not always a tradition to watch a football game during the Holiday. In fact football is a fairly young sport being introduced to the people of the country in the 1920’s; as compared with Major League Baseball (MLB) that was first developed in the late 1800’s. The very first Thanksgiving Day football game was played in 1926.
Even though the NFL has created a tradition for attendance and viewership during the Holiday not all of the 32 teams play during the Thanksgiving Classic. Traditionally only three football games are held on this day; one game hosted by the Dallas Cowboys, one by the Detroit Lions, and one game that rotates between different teams. Despite the Dallas Cowboys being introduced in the 1960’s the team was able to guarantee that they would host a game on Thanksgiving Day, something that some other teams in the NFL would like to do away with. The Detroit Lions lead the League with the most games ever played on Thanksgiving Day.
For more Information and Statistics on the Holidays Games visit the National Football League website “History of Thanksgiving Day Games.”
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