Why has the NFL Thanksgiving schedule been changed after 42 years?

Football fans have plenty to look forward to this Thanksgiving with a feast of action spread out across the day.

As is tradition the Detroit Lions will take part in the festive schedule, facing up against the Green Bay Packers in the early game. The Lions are an absolute fixture of the Thanksgiving action but their start time this year is a departure from tradition.

The Lions - Packers clash is set for 1pm ET, 30 minutes later than the usual 12:30pm ET start. In fact, the 12:30pm kickoff has been a feature of Thanksgiving football for the last 43 years, so why has it changed now?

The move may break from Thanksgiving tradition but a 1pm kickoff is actually in line with the usual Sunday schedule for NFL games. For fans on the West Coast, a 10pm PT start is probably preferable.

“We’re probably going to move from a 12:30 p.m. ET start to 1,” NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said, explaining the motivation for the change of time. “We’ll go back to the traditional windows.”

Why were Thanksgiving games on a different schedule?

The history of the 12:30pm Thanksgiving kickoff dates back to the strike-shortened 1982 season, when league officials were forced to change their schedule.

In 1982 teams played just nine games and the Lions’ Thanksgiving game against the Giants at 12pm after the schedule was altered to largely daytime games on Sunday. The Thanksgiving game was pushed back to 12:30pm the following year and has remained in that spot ever since.

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