The Dallas Cowboys play on Thanksgiving because their former general manager, Tex Schramm, volunteered the team for a nationally televised holiday game in 1966 to boost the franchise’s visibility and fan base, and the game became a long-term NFL tradition.

Origins of the Tradition

  • In the mid-1960s, the Cowboys were a young franchise struggling to draw big crowds and national attention compared to other NFL teams.
  • Tex Schramm saw Thanksgiving as a perfect stage: a guaranteed national TV audience, families at home, and little sports competition, so he pushed the league hard to let Dallas host a yearly Thanksgiving game.
  • The first Cowboys Thanksgiving game was in 1966 against the Cleveland Browns, drew over 80,000 fans, and was viewed as a turning point in Dallas’ rise toward “America’s Team.”

Why the NFL Kept It Going

  • The game was a ratings hit, reliably pulled big viewership, and quickly became part of the holiday routine for fans, so the league leaned into Dallas as a Thanksgiving fixture alongside Detroit.
  • The Cowboys gained a reputation as a marquee TV draw, and the NFL liked having two traditional hosts (Lions early, Cowboys later) to anchor its Thanksgiving schedule every year.
  • Dallas has played on Thanksgiving every year since 1966 except for 1975 and 1977, when the league briefly experimented with the St. Louis Cardinals as the host before returning the slot permanently to the Cowboys.

Home-Field Edge and Storylines

  • Playing at home on a short week gives Dallas a bit of a built-in edge, which some rivals have complained about, but the league accepts it as part of the tradition and scheduling reality.
  • The Cowboys’ Thanksgiving games often feature strong opponents, playoff implications, and memorable moments—like the famous 1974 Clint Longley comeback or the snowy Leon Lett blunder in 1993—which keep the matchup culturally relevant each year.

Modern “Thanksgiving Brand”

  • Today, the Cowboys’ Thanksgiving game is marketed as a centerpiece of the holiday, with elaborate halftime shows, celebrity performers, and big sponsor tie-ins, turning it into more than just a regular-season game.
  • Fans now treat “watching the Cowboys on Thanksgiving” almost like another holiday ritual—right up there with turkey and family gatherings—which is why it remains such a heavily discussed and trending topic every November.

In short, the answer to “why do the Cowboys play on Thanksgiving?” is part smart 1960s marketing move, part TV success, and part NFL tradition that stuck so hard it basically became baked into the holiday itself.

TL;DR: Tex Schramm asked for a Thanksgiving game in 1966 to get Dallas national attention; it drew huge numbers, fans loved it, and the NFL turned it into a near-annual tradition that continues today.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.