Skip to main content

Lions will play on Thanksgiving in '09; after then it's uncertain

TAMPA, Fla. -- The Detroit Lions' Thanksgiving Day game is safe, at least for 2009. But NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell says that could change.

During a news conference Friday, Goodell said owners will discuss having other teams host Thanksgiving Day games "as we get later into the year."

The Lions have hosted Thanksgiving Day games since 1934, and the club fought off a resolution to rotate the game among NFL teams in 1999. The Lions were pounded 47-10 by the Tennessee Titans this Thanksgiving.

Goodell also says the NFL won't change its television blackout policy despite economic troubles nationwide and in cities like Detroit. Five of the Lions' last six home games in 2008 weren't televised locally because Ford Field didn't sell out.

Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press