Even when it comes to TV, everything is bigger in Texas.
Thursday afternoon’s highly anticipated Thanksgiving Day game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Dallas Cowboys at AT&T Stadium could draw the highest TV viewership in National Football League (NFL) regular-season history. That’s the anticipation of The Athletic’s Richard Deitsch, which has circulated in the national media leading up to the game.
The Cowboys (5–5–1) and Chiefs (6–5) kick off at 4:25 p.m. EST on CBS, and the game will stream on Paramount+ and Fubo. Dallas owns the current record of 42.1 million viewers from a 2022 Thanksgiving Day game against the New York Giants—a 28–20 victory for the Cowboys.
While the growth of TV viewership and streaming would make such records seem breakable on a periodic basis, the previous record before 2022 stood for 32 years. That was a 1990 game between the Giants and San Francisco 49ers that attracted 41.5 million viewers on Monday Night Football.
However, Thursday’s Thanksgiving Day game brings together a perfect confluence for record viewership. As Deitsch put it, the NFL’s decision “was not accidental,” and CBS Sports president David Berson only confirmed that.
“When we worked with the NFL in the offseason to plan the schedule for this year, the Chiefs–Cowboys matchup, of course, got everyone’s attention,” Berson told The Athletic. “It’s a matchup featuring two of the league’s biggest brands and viewership drivers, and then for it to be on Thanksgiving in what is typically the most-viewed time slot of the season, we knew it could be something very special.”
As Deitsch pointed out, the Chiefs had four games in the top five for viewership ratings, and the Cowboys had one. This season’s highest viewership came in the Chiefs’ Super Bowl rematch against the Philadelphia Eagles, which had 33.8 million viewers.
It also doesn’t hurt that the Cowboys and Chiefs both pulled out big wins in Week 12 to stay in the playoff hunt, Deitsch noted. Dallas rallied from a 21–0 hole to beat the Eagles, and Kansas City won 23–20 in overtime against the Indianapolis Colts.
Thursday’s games have droves of star power beyond Chiefs superfan and music star Taylor Swift, the fiancée of Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, a big star in his own right. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has been front and center in the NFL scene since the 1990s, when his team had a Super Bowl dynasty, and the Cowboys have remained the league’s most popular team since.
Then, there are star quarterbacks in Patrick Mahomes for the Chiefs and Dak Prescott for the Cowboys. Numerous other star players draw the fans between the two teams, such as the Cowboys’ wide receiver tandem of CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens and the Chiefs’ star defensive tackle Chris Jones.
Even the kickers have their followings. Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker has been outspoken on his Catholic faith and traditional values, which have made waves off the field. Cowboys kicker Brandon Aubrey has been one of the best kickers in the game, and his story and fan interest span multiple sports, since the former Notre Dame soccer standout played professionally in Major League Soccer before his NFL career.
Chiefs head coach Andy Reid has become one of the most-famed coaches in the league with his Super Bowl success, and Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer is looking to carve his own legacy after his late father’s storied career. Marty Schottenheimer once coached the Chiefs in the 1990s, when Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Montana played for the team.
The Chiefs ironically started off in Dallas as the Texans in 1960 as an American Football League team before a move to Kansas City in 1963, where the team became the Chiefs. While the Cowboys have held the “America’s Team” moniker since 1978, the Chiefs have contended for that title because of the team’s recent Super Bowl success and superstar power around the franchise with Mahomes, Kelce, and Swift.
