Andy Devaney
If there’s one thing the NFL Thanksgiving slate does better than anyone else, it’s putting on a show big enough to rattle the turkey right off the table. The NFL Thanksgiving triple-header is back in 2025 with a star-spangled, stadium-shaking trio: Jack White, Post Malone and Lil Jon — three acts who don’t do quiet even on their day off.
The league knows exactly what it’s doing. Every year the holiday games pull in crowds that make major award shows look like a school assembly, and 2024’s Thanksgiving matchups delivered a record-smashing 34.2 million average viewers across the day.
A colossal 141 million people tuned in at some point — the biggest unduplicated audience the NFL has ever seen. Aside from the Super Bowl, nothing in American entertainment comes close.
This year, the league is going even bigger.
Detroit: Jack White Takes the Lions’ Thanksgiving Stage
The first course on the NFL Thanksgiving menu kicks off in Detroit, where the Lions host the Green Bay Packers in their 86th annual Thanksgiving Day Classic. If you’re going to entertain the Motor City on its holiest football day, you’d better bring some voltage — and Jack White has enough to light up half the Midwest.
White headlines the Thanksgiving Halftime Show powered by Verizon, while gospel icon CeCe Winans handles the national anthem with the sort of authority that stops a stadium cold. The Lions are also spotlighting a donation-based initiative supporting Feeding America®, woven into the broadcast throughout the game.
In true Detroit fashion, the city’s biggest musical export is also behind the curtain: “Eminem, and his long-time manager and president of Shady Records, Paul Rosenberg will serve as Executive Producers of the show, along with Jesse Collins Entertainment.”
The duo will steer the Lions’ Thanksgiving halftime productions through 2027 — a hometown partnership that says plenty about the scale the club is aiming for.
The game airs on FOX at 1 p.m. ET. For more information, visit DetroitLions.com.
Dallas: Post Malone Headlines Cowboys–Chiefs in the Red Kettle Kickoff
Once Detroit clears the table, Dallas serves the second helping — and they’ve brought in someone who can tilt a stadium on its axis. Nine-time diamond-certified superstar Post Malone will ignite this year’s Red Kettle Kickoff Halftime Show as the Cowboys face the Kansas City Chiefs at 4:30 p.m. ET on CBS.
The performance doubles as the official launch of The Salvation Army’s Red Kettle Campaign, one of the longest-running and largest fundraisers in the country. As the Cowboys put it, this show isn’t just noise — it’s fuel for communities that need support throughout the year.
The organisation describes the event as “a Texas-sized Cowboys tradition,” now in its 29th year, calling the halftime spectacle a rallying cry for donations nationwide.
If anyone can get America reaching for its wallet during halftime, it’s Posty. For more information, visit DallasCowboys.com.
Baltimore: Lil Jon Closes the Night with a Primetime Blast
The nightcap belongs to Baltimore, where the Ravens host the Cincinnati Bengals under the lights on NBC at 8:20 p.m. ET. Grammy Award-winning dynamo Lil Jon will perform from the Bud Light Touchdown Club — a fitting stage for a man whose entire brand revolves around turning the volume knob past its legal limit.
Before kickoff, Tony Award winner Renée Elise Goldsberry — forever etched in Broadway history for “Hamilton” — delivers the national anthem.
Three cities. Three heavyweight artists. One day. The NFL Thanksgiving tradition is already a TV behemoth, and 2025’s lineup looks engineered to push the numbers even higher.
With Jack White in Detroit, Post Malone in Dallas, and Lil Jon in Baltimore, the league isn’t just filling airtime — it’s declaring holiday dominance.
For more information, visit BaltimoreRavens.com.
