Black Friday is traditionally for feasting on Thanksgiving leftovers and getting a jump on your Christmas shopping list, but now it’s for football too. The NFL began playing a Black Friday game in 2023 and will do so for the second straight year in 2024.
Let’s delve into all the details of this year’s game between the two-time defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs and the Las Vegas Raiders.
NFL Black Friday Game and Schedule
Las Vegas Raiders vs. Kansas City Chiefs
- Kickoff Time: 3 p.m. ET
- TV Channel: Amazon Prime Video
Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce summed it up nicely when he dubbed this matchup “the best team in football vs. the worst team in football.” The Chiefs enter in control of the AFC’s No. 1 seed at 10-1, while the Raiders enter on a seven-game losing streak, their longest in a decade.
As a result, Kansas City is a 13-point home favorite. Anything is possible — the Chiefs lost the last meeting at Arrowhead Stadium between these teams in Christmas 2023, which remains the largest upset loss of Patrick Mahomes’ career — but a Raiders upset redux would be even more shocking this year.
The Chiefs don’t have any room to mess around, with the Buffalo Bills just a game back of them in the AFC’s one-seed race. Buffalo handed Kansas City its only loss two weeks ago, so the Chiefs will lose any head-to-head tiebreaker between the teams.
Why Does the NFL Play on Black Friday? History and More
While we’re all used to Thanksgiving Day football, this will be only the second time the NFL has played a Black Friday game. Amazon and the NFL first announced a newly scheduled Black Friday game in Oct. 2022.
“Thanksgiving is synonymous with football, and we’re excited to give our fans another day of NFL action during this holiday weekend,” said Hans Schroeder, Chief Operating Officer for NFL Media. “Amazon is uniquely positioned to partner with us for this game as Black Friday is one of the most important days of the year for their business.”
At the time, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell suggested that, although there was no deal in place for a Black Friday game beyond 2023, the league typically doesn’t “do things for one year.”
“I would call that entire weekend a football weekend,” Goodell said. “We think there’s room for the NFL on Friday. We’re excited by it, we think it’s gonna be a great thing, and we’ll announce plans as we go.”
Goodell followed up on his word in 2024. Given the NFL’s increasing ubiquity throughout the week, it would be shocking to see the league draw back on claiming this unofficial holiday spot.
How Many Games Are on Black Friday?
The NFL has scheduled only one game for Black Friday in 2024. However, nothing will prevent the league from adding more Black Friday games in the future.
For example, the NFL played two Thanksgiving Day games each season from 1970 through 2005 until adding a third contest in 2006. As the league continues its dominance and television networks request more games, the NFL could potentially place another Black Friday matchup (or two) on the schedule in the coming years.