The NFL is looking into adding a new football game on the Wednesday evening before Thanksgiving — potentially as soon as the 2026 season — expanding its already popular holiday slate that includes the traditional Thursday tripleheader and the Black Friday matchup.
A league spokesman confirmed the exploration of a Thanksgiving Eve game, which would create a week-long stretch of NFL action during one of the biggest viewing periods of the year. Sources indicate that any teams playing on Wednesday would likely be coming off bye weeks to help manage the schedule.
Why It Matters Financially
The NFL has four unsold games available this offseason as part of its media-rights landscape. Holiday games command premium value:
Netflix currently pays $75 million per game for its Christmas Day doubleheader (final year of the deal). A Wednesday night Thanksgiving Eve slot could attract major interest from streamers or networks and be worth tens of millions in additional rights fees.
Current Thanksgiving/Black Friday holders include:
Prime Video (Black Friday game)
Fox, CBS, and NBC (Thursday Thanksgiving games)
YouTube — which already streams NFL Sunday Ticket nationwide and aired its first exclusive regular-season game last year (Chiefs vs. Chargers in Brazil) — is viewed as a leading candidate for any new holiday package.
League Statement
“Every offseason we look for new opportunities to best serve our fans in the schedule-making process,†an NFL spokesperson said. “As commissioner Goodell has said, Thanksgiving and NFL football have become synonymous, and given the continued growth of fan interest around our games on Thanksgiving and Black Friday, looking for additional opportunities tied to this special holiday is exciting for us to explore.â€
The idea comes amid ongoing negotiations to extend or enhance the league’s 11-year, $110+ billion media deals with CBS, NBC, Fox, ESPN, and Prime Video — agreements that are only three seasons old but include opt-out clauses the NFL is using to push for higher payments.
No final decision has been made, but the proposal could gain traction ahead of the NFL Annual League Meeting later this month.