The 2025 NFL Thanksgiving Day tripleheader solidified its place as the crown jewel of American sports television, producing the three most-watched Thanksgiving games ever in their respective time slots and shattering multiple viewership records across broadcast and streaming platforms.
Chiefs vs. Cowboys delivers
The centerpiece of the day came in the late-afternoon window on CBS, where the Dallas Cowboys, surging in NFL Power Rankings, hosted the Kansas City Chiefs in a highly anticipated showdown at AT&T Stadium.
In an instant classic, Dak Prescott and the Cowboys edged Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs 31-28 in a thrilling finish that kept viewers glued to their screens. The broadcast averaged an extraordinary 57.2 million viewers, marking a stunning 36% increase over the previous all-time Thanksgiving high of 42.059 million set by the 2022 Giants-Cowboys game.
At its peak between 7:45-8:00 p.m. ET, the game drew 61.357 million viewers, the largest audience ever for a Thanksgiving contest.
To put that dominance in perspective, the 2025 Cowboys-Chiefs game surpassed last year’s Bears-Lions Thanksgiving broadcast on CBS (42.1 million) by an impressive 27%.
CBS Sports also confirmed that the game became the most-streamed regular-season NFL game in Paramount+ history.
Big day on FOX
In the traditional early-afternoon slot on FOX, the Green Bay Packers traveled to Ford Field and outlasted the Detroit Lions 31-24 in another nail-biter. The telecast averaged 47.7 million viewers, officially making it the most-watched early Thanksgiving game on record.
Viewership surged to a high of 57.957 million during the 4:00-4:15 p.m. ET quarter-hour, underscoring the intense national interest in the NFC North rivalry.
Burrow’s anticipated return
NBC and Peacock capped the holiday with prime-time football as the Baltimore Ravens hosted the Cincinnati Bengals.
In Joe Burrow’s return from injury, the Bengals delivered a commanding 32-14 victory that kept their playoff hopes alive while dealing a blow to their division rival.
Despite the lopsided score, the broadcast still averaged a robust 28.4 million viewers across NBC, Peacock, and Telemundo, enough to make Bengals-Ravens the most-watched Thanksgiving night game in history.
When combining all three contests, Thanksgiving 2025 produced an overall average of 44.7 million viewers per game—the highest single-day average ever for the holiday and a significant leap from the previous record of 34.5 million set in 2024.
Digital streaming platforms also saw unprecedented engagement, delivering an average minute audience of 2.2 million across the tripleheader, which marked a new Thanksgiving Day record and represented a 58% year-over-year increase.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell celebrated the milestone, stating, “Thanksgiving and NFL football have become synonymous. We are grateful to our teams and broadcast partners for these incredible games, and honored to be a part of so many families’ holiday tradition.”
The Thanksgiving dominance is part of a broader banner year for the league.
Through Week 12 of the 2025 season, NFL games occupy 48 of the top 50 most-watched television programs, and regular-season viewership is running approximately 6% ahead of last year.
League executives noted during a conference call that enhancements in Nielsen’s measurement methodology—including the full incorporation of out-of-home viewing and the rollout of its Big Data + Panel reporting system—have contributed to the more comprehensive and higher audience figures recorded this season.
In every measurable way, Thanksgiving 2025 reaffirmed the NFL’s unmatched grip on American holiday viewership, blending high-stakes football with family tradition on a scale never seen before.
