The concept of American football games being played on Thanksgiving Day dates back to 1876, shortly after the game had been invented, as it was a day that most people had off from work. In that year, the college football teams at Yale and Princeton began an annual tradition of playing each other on Thanksgiving Day.

The NFL's Thanksgiving Day games have traditionally included one game hosted by the Detroit Lions since 1934, and one game hosted by the Dallas Cowboys since 1966. Since the league introduced games on Thursday evenings in 2006, a third prime time game has also been played on Thanksgiving; unlike the afternoon games, this game has no fixed host and has featured different teams annually.