NFL Black Friday Game: History, Info on the New Tradition

For the second straight season, an NFL game will take place on Black Friday, adding another matchup to catch during the league’s traditionally packed Thanksgiving weekend. The defending two-time champion Kansas City Chiefs will host the Las Vegas Raiders at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium on Friday, Nov. 29 at 3:00 p.m. It will be streamed on Prime Video.

Learn more about the history of the NFL on Black Friday and everything you need to know about this year’s matchup below, and find tickets to one of football’s newest traditions at Ticketmaster.

The NFL on Black Friday 2024

The second-ever NFL Black Friday game features two historic AFC franchises in the Chiefs and Raiders. The afternoon game will take place on the Chiefs’ home turf at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri. Kick off is set for 3:00 p.m. ET. Fans at home will be able to catch the game for free on Amazon’s Prime Video streaming service.

What Game is Being Played on Black Friday 2024?

The NFL game on Black Friday will continue the slate of traditional divisional matchups from Thanksgiving Day with an AFC West showdown between the Chiefs and Raiders. The Black Friday game will mark the teams’ second of two meetings during the 2024-25 regular season.

History of the NFL on Black Friday

In 2023, the introduction of an NFL game on Black Friday expanded the league’s long-standing Thanksgiving weekend celebration, which has boasted at least one matchup on the holiday for more than a century. The Detroit Lions have played on Thanksgiving Day every year since 1934 (except between 1939 and 1944 during World War II), while the Dallas Cowboys began competing in a second annual Thanksgiving Day game in 1966 and have played every year since except for 1975 and 1977.

In 2023, the Cowboys hosted the Washington Commanders while the Lions are hosting the Green Bay Packers. A third matchup on the holiday, which has no particular team anchored to it, launched in 2006. Read more about the Dallas Cowboys and Detroit Lions’ Thanksgiving history here, and revisit eight of the holiday games’ biggest moments here.

The first Black Friday game was initially announced in October 2022, with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell declaring the “entire” Thanksgiving weekend “a football weekend” and later adding that “there’s room for the NFL on Friday.” The two 2023 competitors were confirmed by the NFL in May 2023, priming a faceoff between the Jets’ newly-acquired quarterback Aaron Rodgers and the surging Dolphins under second-year head coach Mike McDaniel.

The NFL’s vice president of broadcast planning Mike North revealed to ESPN that several other teams were in contention, including the Cincinnati Bengals, Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens. The New York Giants were also considered due to Amazon’s desire to tie the Black Friday match to the country’s largest retail market, but the league ultimately landed on the New York Jets.

The 2024 Black Friday game between the Chiefs and Raiders will be a rematch of one of the most exciting holiday games from the 2023 season. On Christmas Day in 2023, the Raiders went to Kansas City and stunned the Chiefs, 20-14. While that game was a surprising upset victory for Las Vegas, the Chiefs turned around and won six consecutive games — capping it all off by winning Super Bowl LVIII vs. the 49ers.

NFL Black Friday Game Results

Since the Black Friday Game is a new tradition for the NFL, there’s only been one other result: in 2023, the Dolphins beat the Jets, 34-13.

Although the Chiefs and Raiders have never played on Black Friday, both teams have played on Thanksgiving Day. The Chiefs have played 10 games on Thanksgiving Day and are 5-5. They most recently played on the holiday in 2006, when they defeated the Broncos, 19-10, in what was the debut of Thursday Night Football. The Raiders, meanwhile, have played on Turkey Day eight times and are 4-4. In 2021, they beat the Cowboys, 36-33, in overtime on Thanksgiving Day.

Even though the 2024-25 NFL season has not started yet, it is likely that this Black Friday game between the Chiefs and Raiders could have major postseason implications for both teams. The Raiders, at 8-9, finished in second place in the AFC West behind the Chiefs last season.