Why do the Detroit Lions always play on Thanksgiving?
For the 77th time, the Detroit Lions will play a game on Thanksgiving Day.
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The tradition dates back to 1934 when radio entrepreneur G.A. Richards — the first owner of the Lions — moved the club from Portsmouth, Ohio, to Detroit.
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As owner of the new team in town — and taking a backseat to the popular Detroit Tigers — Richards needed a way to bring in more fans...
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So using his radio influence, Richards convinced NBC to broadcast a Lions Thanksgiving Day game across stations nationwide.
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As luck would have it, that first game pitted the 10-1 Lions against the defending NFL champs and undefeated Chicago Bears.
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The Chicago Bears won the game 19-16.
The game sold out and instantly became an annual classic the next year after the Lions avenged their loss on their way to becoming the 1935 NFL Champions.
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And the Lions have played on Thanksgiving Day ever since, with the exception of a six-season gap from 1939 to 1944 (the NFL season was shortened as a result of World War II).
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Fun Fact: Much like G.A. Richards, Dallas Cowboys general manager Tex Schramm jumped on an opportunity to play on Thanksgiving in 1966 as a way to boost popularity for the Cowboys, who joined the NFL as an expansion team in 1960.
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And so now the Lions and Cowboys both have games on Thanksgiving, marking one of the oldest traditions for each team.
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