Thursday Night Football
Updated: 5/24/2026, 7:19:03 PM Wikipedia source
Thursday Night Football (commonly abbreviated as TNF) is the branding used for broadcasts of National Football League (NFL) games that broadcast primarily on Thursday nights. Most of the games kick off at 8:15 Eastern Time (8:20 prior to 2022 and 8:25 prior to 2018). Debuting on November 23, 2006, the telecasts were originally part of NFL Network's Run to the Playoffs package, which consisted of eight total games broadcast on Thursday and Saturday nights (five on Thursdays, and three on Saturdays, originally branded as Saturday Night Football) during the latter portion of the season. Since 2012, the TNF package has begun during the second week of the NFL season; the NFL Kickoff Game and the NFL on Thanksgiving are both broadcast as part of NBC Sports' Sunday Night Football contract and are not included in Thursday Night Football. In 2014, the NFL shifted the package to a new model to increase its prominence. The entire TNF package would be produced by a separate rightsholder, who would hold rights to simulcast a portion of the package on their respective network. Networks have included CBS, NBC and Fox. In 2016, the NFL also began to sub-license digital streaming rights to the broadcast television portion of the package to third-parties, beginning with Twitter in 2016, and Amazon in 2017—initially on Prime Video, and since 2018 it is also being carried freely on Amazon-owned live streaming platform Twitch. In 2021, it was announced that Amazon had acquired the exclusive rights to Thursday Night Football beginning in the 2023 season under the NFL's new broadcasting deals, marking the first time that the NFL had sold one of its main television packages to a digital media company. As before, all of the games are also streamed for free on Twitch, and aired on local broadcast television stations in the markets of the opposing teams as per NFL rules. As with all other nationally televised games, they are also carried on radio as part of the NFL on Westwood One Sports package. At the end of the 2025 season, Amazon announced an average of 15 million viewers had watched each game throughout the schedule, the highest on record.
Infobox
Tables
| Team | Games Played | Wins | Losses | Ties | Win Pct. | First Appearance | Most Recent Appearance |
| Indianapolis Colts | 16 | 12 | 4 | 750 | November 22, 2007 defeated Atlanta 31–13 | October 6, 2022 defeated Denver 12-9 (OT) | |
| Kansas City Chiefs | 14 | 11 | 3 | 786 | November 23, 2006 defeated Denver 19–10 | November 29, 2024 defeated Las Vegas 19-17 | |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | 17 | 10 | 7 | 625 | December 7, 2006 defeated Cleveland 27–7 | October 16, 2025 lost to Cincinnati 33-31 | |
| New York Jets | 21 | 8 | 13 | 400 | November 13, 2008 defeated New England 34–31 | November 13, 2025 lost to New England 27-14 | |
| Los Angeles Chargers** | 16 | 9 | 7 | 500 | December 4, 2008 defeated Oakland 34–7 | October 23, 2025 defeated Minnesota 37-10 | |
| Dallas Cowboys | 19 | 13 | 6 | 706 | December 16, 2006 defeated Atlanta 38–28 | December 4, 2025 lost to Detroit 44-30 | |
| Philadelphia Eagles | 15 | 9 | 6 | 667 | November 27, 2008 defeated Arizona 48–20 | November 28, 2025 lost to Chicago Bears 24-15 | |
| New York Giants | 13 | 5 | 8 | 364 | December 30, 2006 defeated Washington 34–28 | October 9, 2025 defeated Philadelphia 34-17 | |
| San Francisco 49ers | 22 | 13 | 9 | 579 | December 14, 2006 defeated Seattle 24–14 | October 2, 2025 defeated L . Rams 26-23 (OT) | |
| Denver Broncos | 21 | 9 | 12 | 389 | November 23, 2006 lost to Kansas City 19–10 | November 6, 2025 defeated to Las Vegas 10–7 | |
| Atlanta Falcons | 15 | 10 | 5 | 643 | December 16, 2006 lost to Dallas 38–28 | October 3, 2024 defeated Tampa Bay 36–30 (OT) | |
| Chicago Bears | 17 | 9 | 8 | 533 | December 6, 2007 lost to Washington 24–16 | November 28, 2025 defeated Philadelphia Eagles 24-15 | |
| Baltimore Ravens | 18 | 13 | 5 | 706 | November 30, 2006 lost to Cincinnati 13–7 | October 30, 2025 defeated Miami 28-6 | |
| Seattle Seahawks | 11 | 6 | 647 | December 14, 2006 lost to San Francisco 24–14 | December 18, 2025 defeated [[Los Angeles Rams 38-37 (OT) | ||
| Green Bay Packers | 15 | 10 | 5 | 692 | December 21, 2006 defeated Minnesota 9–7 | September 11, 2025 defeated Washington 27-18 | |
| Arizona Cardinals | 16 | 5 | 11 | 333 | November 27, 2008 lost to Philadelphia 48–20 | September 25, 2025 lost to Seattle 23-20 | |
| Washington Commanders**** | 12 | 5 | 7 | 455 | December 30, 2006 lost to N . Giants 34–28 | September 11, 2025 lost to Green Bay 27-18 | |
| New England Patriots | 15 | 11 | 4 | 714 | December 29, 2007 defeated N . Giants 38–35 | November 13, 2025 defeated N . Jets 27-14 | |
| Miami Dolphins | 16 | 7 | 9 | 538 | November 19, 2009 defeated Carolina 24–17 | October 30, 2025 lost to Baltimore 28-6 | |
| Detroit Lions | 6 | 4 | 2 | 500 | December 3, 2015 lost to Green Bay 27–23 | December 4, 2025 defeated Dallas 44–30 | |
| Houston Texans | 14 | 6 | 8 | 385 | December 13, 2007 defeated Denver 31–13 | November 20, 2025 defeated Buffalo 23-19 | |
| Las Vegas Raiders*** | 17 | 8 | 9 | 500 | December 23, 2006 lost to Kansas City 20–9 | November 6, 2025 lost to Denver 10-7 | |
| Cleveland Browns | 16 | 9 | 7 | 563 | December 7, 2006 lost to Pittsburgh 27–7 | November 21, 2024 defeated Pittsburgh 24-19 | |
| Cincinnati Bengals | 14 | 6 | 8 | 385 | November 30, 2006 defeated Baltimore 13–7 | October 16, 2025 defeated Pittsburgh 33-31 | |
| Carolina Panthers | 17 | 6 | 11 | 353 | December 22, 2007 lost to Dallas 20–13 | November 9, 2023 lost to Chicago 16-13 | |
| Jacksonville Jaguars | 16 | 6 | 10 | 375 | December 18, 2008 lost to Indianapolis 31–24 | October 19, 2023 defeated New Orleans 31-24 | |
| Tennessee Titans | 15 | 6 | 9 | 400 | December 25, 2009 lost to San Diego 42–17 | November 2, 2023 lost to Pittsburgh 20-16 | |
| New Orleans Saints | 13 | 4 | 9 | 308 | December 11, 2008 lost to Chicago 27–24 | October 17, 2024 lost to Denver 33-10 | |
| Buffalo Bills | 14 | 7 | 7 | 455 | December 3, 2009 lost to N . Jets 19–13 | November 20, 2025 lost to Houston 23-19 | |
| Los Angeles Rams* | 17 | 9 | 8 | 500 | December 20, 2007 lost to Pittsburgh 41–24 | October 2, 2025 lost to San Francisco 26–23 (OT) | |
| Minnesota Vikings | 11 | 3 | 8 | 333 | December 21, 2006 lost to Green Bay 9–7 | October 23, 2024 lost to L . Chargers 37-10 | |
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 16 | 4 | 12 | 267 | December 17, 2011 lost to Dallas 31–15 | October 3, 2024 lost to Atlanta 36-30 (OT) |
| Preceded byESPN | NFL Thursday Night Football broadcaster 2006–present (with CBS from 2014 to 2017) (with NBC from 2016 to 2017) (with Fox from 2018 to 2021) | Succeeded byAmazon Prime Video |
References
- Bloomberghttps://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-01-05/-thursday-night-football-season-was-most-watched-ever-amazon
- "Why NFL Network is on the sidelines"http://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/article/61332
- "NFL renews lucrative TV deals"http://www.newsday.com/sports/media/nfl-renews-lucrative-tv-deals-1.3389953
- "All 32 teams will have one short-week game"https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/04/17/all-32-teams-will-have-one-short-week-game/
- The New York Timeshttps://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/13/sports/football/nfl-may-sell-tv-rights-to-some-thursday-games.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&smid%3D=tw-nytsports&_r=0
- Sports Business Journalhttps://web.archive.org/web/20140119063610/http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Daily/Closing-Bell/2014/01/15/thursdays.aspx
- Sports Business Journalhttps://web.archive.org/web/20140119063642/http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Daily/Closing-Bell/2014/01/16/TNF.aspx
- The Wall Street Journalhttps://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304419104579327103838456122?mg=reno64-wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB10001424052702304419104579327103838456122.html
- New York Posthttps://nypost.com/2015/11/23/nfl-aims-to-rescue-network-with-thursday-night-football-bidding-war/
- Sports Business Dailyhttp://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Journal/Issues/2014/02/10/Media/NFL-CBS.aspx
- Charlotte Business Journalhttp://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/blog/queen_city_agenda/2014/10/panthers-blowout-loss-sinks-tv-interest-too.html
- Cincinnatihttp://www.cincinnati.com/story/tvandmediablog/2014/11/03/bengals-wlwt-tv-nfl-network-phil-simms-jim-nantz-thursday-night-football-sunday-night-football-cris-collinsworth/18418247/
- Adweekhttp://www.adweek.com/news/television/rivalries-abound-cbs-thursday-night-football-slate-157218
- CBSSportshttp://www.cbssports.com/nfl/eye-on-football/24431657/cbs-to-take-eight-thursday-night-games-in-2014
- USA Todayhttps://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/2014/02/05/cbs-thursday-tv-games-nfl-network/5227869/
- Sports Video Grouphttp://sportsvideo.org/main/blog/2014/08/cbs-nfl-network-begin-final-push-for-thursday-night-football-launch/
- Sports Business Journalhttp://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Journal/Issues/2014/04/07/Media/NFL-Thursday-nights.aspx
- Bleacher Reporthttps://bleacherreport.com/articles/1788206-is-thursday-night-football-hurting-the-nfl-brand
- CBSSportshttp://www.cbssports.com/nfl/eye-on-football/24656246/nfl-thursday-night-football-schedule
- Sports Illustratedhttps://www.si.com/nfl/2014/09/11/cbs-thursday-night-football-ray-rice-rihanna