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Bills vs Cowboys most watched Thanksgiving game in 27 Years


BigDingus

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And most watched non-Super Bowl game on any network period the past 3 years.

 

https://deadline.com/2019/11/buffalo-bills-dallas-cowboys-thanksgiving-day-game-most-watched-27-years-cbs-sports-1202797442/

 

32.538 million viewers on average, with a peak of 35.453 million viewers. It was also the most watched TV program, sports or otherwise, since the Super Bowl in February. That's pretty incredible.

Makes me curious as to why THIS specific game had such huge interest. Maybe a lot of closet Bills fans decided to check in & see if we were legit? Is the bandwagon about to get going again? Time will tell!

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I think Buffalo being several games above .500 (with no real household names on its roster) after being the source of ridicule for so long made them a curiosity to people, couple that with the fact that they were going up against America's Team, and that may explain the high ratings.

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2 minutes ago, BurpleBull said:

I think Buffalo being several games above .500 (with no real household names on its roster) after being the source of ridicule for so long made them a curiosity to people, couple that with the fact that they were going up against America's Team, and that may explain the high ratings.

 

The curiosity factor could definitely be it, but on the Cowboys side of things it feels weird since they ALWAYS play Thanksgiving. But for whatever reason, out of the last 27 Thanksgiving games the Cowboys have played, facing the Bills ended up drawing the most interest. That's just strange to me, but pretty cool at the same time.

If anything, this should certainly guarantee us more prime time games next year. Bills are now officially a draw & ratings magnet ?

Edited by BigDingus
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I think the Jerry quotes after the pats game is part of it.  Dallas is a polarizing team like the pats.  You either love them or hate them.   Watching Jerry in his box was a great sub plot which was heightened this year due to his comments.  

Edited by mattynh
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Just out of curiosity, I looked up the past 27 Cowboys Thanksgiving games:

2018: Cowboys 31, Redskins 23 (Divisional Rivalry, Tons of History)

2017: LA Chargers 28, Cowboys 6 (1st Thanksgiving game since moving back to LA)

2016: Cowboys 31, Redskins 26 (See above)

2015: Panthers 33, Cowboys 14 (Panthers 1st Thanksgiving game ever)

2014: Eagles 33, Cowboys 10 (Divisional Rivalry, Tons of History)

2013: Cowboys 31, Raiders 24 (Raiders have a huge national fanbase too)

2012: Redskins 38, Cowboys 31    

2011: Cowboys 20, Dolphins 19

2010: Saints 30, Cowboys 27

2009: Cowboys 24, Raiders 7

2008: Cowboys 34, Seahawks 9

2007: Cowboys 34, NY Jets 3

2006: Cowboys 38, Buccaneers 10

2005: Broncos 24, Cowboys 21 (OT)

2004: Cowboys 21, Bears 7

2003: Dolphins 40, Cowboys 21

2002: Cowboys 27, Redskins 20

2001: Broncos 26, Cowboys 24

2000: Vikings 27, Cowboys 15

1999: Cowboys 20, Dolphins 0

1998: Vikings 46, Cowboys 36

1997: Oilers 27, Cowboys 14

1996: Redskins 10, Cowboys 21

1995: Cowboys 24, Chiefs 12

1994: Cowboys 42, Packers 31 (Bills lost to the Lions 21 to 35 on this Thanksgiving too)

1993: Dolphins 16, Cowboys 14

1992: Cowboys 30, NY Giants 3

 

Some big games, some duds, but nothing that particularly points to why THIS game had such massive ratings. Interesting to see they've played the Dolphins 4 times, tied with the Redskins for most games as the Cowboys opponents during that stretch. Guess the nation is just more interested in the Bills than the either of them ;) 

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1 hour ago, BigDingus said:

And most watched non-Super Bowl game on any network period the past 3 years.

 

https://deadline.com/2019/11/buffalo-bills-dallas-cowboys-thanksgiving-day-game-most-watched-27-years-cbs-sports-1202797442/

 

32.538 million viewers on average, with a peak of 35.453 million viewers. It was also the most watched TV program, sports or otherwise, since the Super Bowl in February. That's pretty incredible.

Makes me curious as to why THIS specific game had such huge interest. Maybe a lot of closet Bills fans decided to check in & see if we were legit? Is the bandwagon about to get going again? Time will tell!

Lot of people dislike the Cowboys. The Bills are a great underdog story and the hope by many was that the Cowpokes would be beaten down by a traditionally underachieving team like the Bills. The first half was fairly interesting and probably made for good viewing with the turkey. Several non-Bills fans were texting me about how much they are enjoying the game. Somewhere in those anedoctes lies the story of the high viewership. Plus ALlen looks handsome to the ladies, as my wife would attest. 

 

 

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1 hour ago, BigDingus said:


Makes me curious as to why THIS specific game had such huge interest. Maybe a lot of closet Bills fans decided to check in & see if we were legit? Is the bandwagon about to get going again? Time will tell!

You think there are 35 million closet Bills fans?

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32 minutes ago, walstib said:

Buffalo's number one export may be loyal Bills fans.

 

I agree 100%.. We're a "small market" team but die-hards.. Alot of people move elsewhere but raise their children and even their Grandchildren to be Bills fans.. I moved to Spokane, Wa from Buffalo when I was 4 or 5 (now 35) with my entire family, grandparents, parents, aunts and Uncles and we're all die-hard Bills fans.. I see alot more Bills fans out here than people would think.. We all drove to Seattle and flew to Nashville for that game and the airport in Seattle and on the plane was all Bills fans.. Poyer's mom was on the flight and the pilot when we landed in Nashville told her Happy Birthday and everybody said Go Bills!! She said all she wanted for her b'day was a Bills win lol.. Long story short, we are everywhere and I love it..

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1 hour ago, Cheektowaga Chad said:

I thought i heard that the 430 pm Thanksgiving game is always the highest rated regular season nfl game each year and a lot of times the second highest rated game behind the super bowl

Still, this is quite remarkable. For me the game isn't until 1:30pm and many out on the Pacific coast haven't had dinner yet.

 

Maybe some fans had not seen the Bills play an entire game all season. This was their first nationally televised game of the year.

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23 minutes ago, TheNorwoodStrangler said:

I agree 100%.. We're a "small market" team but die-hards.. Alot of people move elsewhere but raise their children and even their Grandchildren to be Bills fans.. I moved to Spokane, Wa from Buffalo when I was 4 or 5 (now 35) with my entire family, grandparents, parents, aunts and Uncles and we're all die-hard Bills fans.. I see alot more Bills fans out here than people would think.. We all drove to Seattle and flew to Nashville for that game and the airport in Seattle and on the plane was all Bills fans.. Poyer's mom was on the flight and the pilot when we landed in Nashville told her Happy Birthday and everybody said Go Bills!! She said all she wanted for her b'day was a Bills win lol.. Long story short, we are everywhere and I love it..

It's one of the main reasons contrary to many Bills fans' paranoia, the NFL loves Buffalo and we were never in danger of losing the Bills. Bills fans are fans for life and when they move, they are the ones that buy the Season Ticket and merch and filll sports bars that sell Budweiser. The NFL loves that.

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1 hour ago, walstib said:

Buffalo's number one export may be loyal Bills fans.

 

 

Yes Bills are known for having many Bills fans and backers clubs CONUS and UCONUS.

There were national news stories about Bills fans filling opposition stadiums and they are not emptying WNY to do it.

There are not a lot of "closet" Bills fans but some Bills fans are in closet about not really being fans on them which you see when they want to criticize every little thing which is not perfect and praise the Evil Empire even when they make terrible mistakes.  Those are only closet fans who should come out of closet.

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