Updates

The fourth annual John Madden Thanksgiving Celebration will take place on Thursday, Nov. 27.

Madden once said, “There’s no place that I would rather be today on Thanksgiving than right here, right now, at a football game,” and the John Madden Thanksgiving Celebration brings together all the things that were important to him – family, football, food, tradition and fun. 

This year’s Thanksgiving Day games are:

• Green Bay Packers versus Detroit Lions at 1 p.m. ET on FOX
• Kansas City Chiefs versus Dallas Cowboys at 4:30 p.m. ET on CBS
• Cincinnati Bengals versus Baltimore Ravens at 8:20 p.m. ET on NBC

Learn more about how the NFL schedule is created.

John Madden Thanksgiving Celebrations

Game broadcasts. Network partners FOX, CBS and NBC will continue to celebrate Madden’s contributions to the game, both on the field and in the broadcast booth, with tributes interspersed throughout each game on Thanksgiving Day. Live game audio of all three Thanksgiving Day games will be broadcast nationally by Westwood One and SiriusXM, which will both air Madden and Thanksgiving-related programming leading up to and on Thanksgiving Day.

Streaming. EA SPORTS Madden NFL Cast returns with this year’s edition streaming exclusively on Peacock complementing the Bengals-Ravens matchup. Blending video game elements and live action, the stream will be an immersive, data-powered live football experience that injects Madden NFL’s unique brand elements as animated overlays. New to this year’s Madden NFL Cast, the main coverage angle will predominantly come from the hi-sky camera located behind the quarterback – the view most familiar to Madden gamers.

Madden Hallmark. A special NFL-produced Madden Hallmark will kick off each broadcast, conveying what Thanksgiving meant to him in his own words. 

Madden Thanksgiving MVP. Each network will select a Madden Thanksgiving MVP who will receive a $10,000 donation from the NFL Foundation to be given to a high school or youth football program in their name, as the topic of youth football was important to Madden.  For the second year, each Madden Thanksgiving MVP will be awarded the Madden Thanksgiving MVP trophy, created to honor Madden and celebrate everything the game of football means to the Thanksgiving holiday. The trophy is in the form of a pylon and includes various “Maddenisms” sprinkled throughout, along with visual cues to speak to the holiday theme.

Charitable donations. For the second consecutive year, the NFL will benefit the John Madden Foundation by auctioning off game-used items from the three Thanksgiving Day games via NFL Auction, with proceeds supporting the new foundation.

Game coins. A coin featuring a silhouette of Coach Madden on one side (“Heads”) and a six-legged turducken on the reverse side (“Tails) will be used for the coin toss, and a patch featuring a silhouette of Coach Madden will be included on the jersey of each player in all three games.

Field Stencils. Special John Madden Thanksgiving Celebration stencils will be placed on the sidelines of Ford Field (Detroit), AT&T Stadium (Dallas) and M&T Bank Stadium (Baltimore), along with stadium wall panels that include an iconic image of Madden from his coaching days.

Media. NFL Media will support all elements of the John Madden Thanksgiving Celebration across programming and platforms leading up to and on Thanksgiving Day, including Good Morning Football and NFL GameDay Morning on NFL Network. John Madden’s son Michael Madden will join Good Morning Football as a guest on Thanksgiving Day.

Social Media. The NFL’s social media handles across several platforms will also support the celebrations with unique content.

Podcast. John Madden’s longtime agent Sandy Montag will join the Lots to Say Podcast with Bobby Bones and Matt Cassel to share stories and discuss the importance of Thanksgiving to Madden. Episode will be available on Wednesday, Nov. 26.