Notes: NFL Media Executive Explains Lions Thanksgiving Time Change

There's little doubt about the Detroit Lions' status as one of the most popular teams in the entire NFL.

After playing in six primetime games plus their annual Thanksgiving game last season, the Lions will once again be featured heavily in the spotlight in 2025. When the schedule was unveiled Wednesday, the Lions were listed with a total of five primetime games and two more holiday standalone games on Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Detroit's Thanksgiving start time has been pushed back by 30 minutes, from 12:30 to 1 p.m. NFL vice president for media distribution Hans Schroeder explained the time change, indicating that the ratings for last season's holiday showdown were highest after 1 p.m. as opposed to at the start.

"I think from 2:30 on that Chicago-Lions game was above 40 million viewers," Schroeder said, via the Detroit Free Press. "I think the game averaged a little bit over 37 million viewers for the entirety of it. And so when we saw the numbers that broke it down by quarter hour at 12:30, I think it was in the mid-20s and maybe climbed to the higher-20s by 12:45, we just saw, hey, it was at a much higher level from 1 o'clock on."

NFL vice president for broadcast planning Mike North explained that the Lions are in the upper echelon of teams desired by fans, as reflected by ratings. Detroit was the most-watched team in the NFL a season ago, and are reaping the benefits of that with more primetime games.

Along with the Lions, some of the other most-popular teams in the league include the Kansas City Chiefs, Dallas Cowboys and Washington Commanders.

"It's not just about do we think they're going to be better? We don't know. None of us know," North said. "But our broadcast partners do. And so when we meet with all the broadcast partners at the beginning of this process and they make their list of, ‘Hey, here's some of the games and some of the teams that we'd most be interested in,’ obviously you've got your healthy dose of Dallas and Kansas City on there, but a definite representation, Lions, Washington, Denver, teams that have played their way into bigger national television windows.