After being the NFL's most-watched team in 2024, the Lions will spend most of 2025 in the spotlight. Their schedule this season -- listed fully below -- features 12 games on national TV, five of them in primetime, and a divisional clash on Christmas Day in addition to their traditional spot on Thanksgiving.
"We were the No. 1 team on every broadcast network last year," Lions president Rod Wood said last month. "TV likes us, the stars that we have, I think the way we play, our coach, makes us an appealing team."
Coming off a 15-2 season in which they had an NFC-high seven Pro Bowlers, the Lions are at Lambeau in Week 1 for a nationally-televised game against the Packers (4:25 on CBS), before opening the home slate the next week against Ben Johnson and the Bears in a suddenly rare 1:00 kick for Detroit.
The Lions edged out the Cowboys last year as the most popular team on TV by drawing an average of 22.65 million viewers per game, while accounting for the top-rated game of the season on CBS, NBC, ABC and Amazon. They came in second on FOX to the Cowboys-Giants broadcast on Thanksgiving.
After Week 2, four of Detroit's next five games are on national TV, starting on Monday Night Football in Baltimore against Lamar Jackson and the Ravens. The Lions also visit Joe Burrow and the Bengals in Week 5 (4:25 on FOX), Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs on Sunday Night Football in Week 6 and host the Buccaneers on Monday Night Football in Week 7 during this stretch.
That takes them into their bye in Week 8.
The Lions come out of the bye with three straight games against NFC playoff teams from last season, first hosting the Vikings, then traveling to DC for a grudge match with Jayden Daniels and the Commanders (4:25 on FOX) and to Philadelphia in Week 10 to take on Jalen Hurts and the reigning Super Bowl champs on Sunday Night Football.
That sets up three straight home games for the Lions, featuring the Packers on Thanksgiving (1:00 on FOX) and the Cowboys the week after that on Thursday Night Football. Wood said that the Lions' Thursday night game on Amazon the same week last year -- a 34-31 over the Packers -- "drew 5 million people more than the next highest Amazon game."
Detroit's next three games are also nationally televised: at Matthew Stafford and the Rams (4:25 on FOX), home against the Steelers (4:25 on CBS) and at the Vikings on Christmas Day (4:30 on Netflix). It will mark just the third time the Lions have ever played on Christmas, after losses to the Broncos in 1999 and the Dolphins in 1994.
The Lions close the regular season at the Bears in Week 18.