Cincinnati Bengals head coach Zac Taylor. Sam Greene/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK

Bengals wanted to host Black Friday game, make it their annual 'tradition'

By Victor Barbosa | Last updated 5/12/23

The New York Jets will welcome the Miami Dolphins to town for the NFL's first Black Friday game on Nov. 24, but there was one other team who badly wanted to play host.

Interesting nugget from the NFL's Mike North on a media call on the 2023 schedule: The Bengals raised their hand to host the first Black Friday game and even wanted to make it their yearly tradition.

NFL instead scheduled Dolphins at Jets.
— Ben Volin (@BenVolin) May 12, 2023

The league reportedly chose the Jets as hosts after Amazon (who will stream the game on Prime Video) suggested a "New York area location" due to the Empire State being "tops in retail activity."

While the Bengals have made a Super Bowl and conference championship game in the last two years, the Jets hold the longest postseason drought across North American professional sports. A certain four-time MVP joined Gang Green in the offseason though, likely making the Black Friday choice more popular.

According to Pro Football Talk's Michael David Smith, there hasn't been any "indication that the league plans to make any one team the permanent host of the Black Friday game."

The day before the Dolphins-Jets showdown, six teams will take part in a Thanksgiving Day tripleheader. The Detroit Lions and Dallas Cowboys (both permanent hosts for turkey day contests) will welcome the Green Bay Packers and Washington Commanders to their home stadiums respectively, while the San Francisco 49ers will travel to face the Seattle Seahawks in the nightcap.

More must-reads: