Caleb Foster of Duke talks with his head coach, Jon Scheyer, during the Dick Vitale Invitational between the Texas Longhorns and the Duke Blue Devils at Spectrum Center on Nov. 4, 2025. (Photo by Robin Alam/ISI Photos/ISI Photos via Getty Images)
ISI Photos via Getty Images
On a holiday closely associated with football, CBS is introducing a new Thanksgiving sports tradition.
CBS will televise a college basketball game on the night of Nov. 27, and this one is particularly noteworthy because it features Arkansas head coach John Calipari, one of the biggest figures in college basketball, vs. Duke, one of the biggest brands in the sport.
“We’re thrilled to once again feature two premier programs in a high-impact window on Thanksgiving,” said Dan Weinberg, CBS Sports executive vice president of programming, via email, “to tip off our regular-season schedule on CBS and start our run to March.”
Since 2010 more than 300 men’s college basketball games have been played on Thanksgiving, but only three have aired on a major network.
Last year’s CBS Sports Thanksgiving Classic between Illinois and Arkansas in Kansas City, Mo., was the most-watched, regular-season, college basketball game on any network in 2024-25, averaging 5.174 million viewers.
“Playing on Thanksgiving Day was a great experience,” Calipari said in a press release, “and great exposure for our program.”
This year’s Arkansas game is poised to be viewed by even more.
The Ultimate Lead-In Game
Last year’s Arkansas game was televised in the afternoon, but Duke-Arkansas will be at 8 p.m. EST after CBS broadcasts the Kansas City Chiefs at Dallas Cowboys at 4:30 p.m. EST.
That much-anticipated NFL game can serve as an avenue to promote the ensuing Duke-Arkansas game and give sports fans a reason to keep watching CBS.
The late afternoon Thanksgiving window televising the Cowboys window is traditionally the most-watched regular-season NFL game every year. In fact, even though both teams had losing records last year, New York Giants at Cowboys on Thanksgiving drew an audience of 38.5 million — the highest viewership for any game all season.
But this year’s CBS Thanksgiving game features not only the Cowboys, America’s Team, but also the Chiefs, the reigning NFL dynasty who has played in the last three Super Bowls.
Those in the industry think ratings could top the 2002 Giants-Cowboys game on Thanksgiving, which drew 42.1 million to establish a modern-era record for any NFL regular-season game.
CBS could enjoy a record-breaking day.
“They’re really excited,” Mark Starsiak, general manager of college sports for Intersport, exclusively shared. “The hope is that that audience and those folks tuning in there can hold over.”
Getting Duke on Board for the Matchup
Seeking a prominent college basketball game to oppose NBC’s Thanksgiving version of Sunday Night Football on Thursday, CBS went through Intersport. The Chicago-based company, which previously tried to put together Duke’s 312 Run fundraiser, is one of the nation’s most prominent college sports event management agencies and has a special connection with Duke.
Charles Besser is the founder/CEO of Intersport, and his son, Brennan, played four years at Duke, seeing action in six games as a walk-on.
He is one of several Duke ties to the Chicago area, including Brennan’s coach, Mike Krzyzewski, a Chicago native.
Current head coach Jon Scheyer grew up in the northern suburbs of Chicago. In his second season as head coach, Duke defeated Michigan State in the Champions Classic at the United Center, the setting for the Thanksgiving game.
At the postgame press conference, Scheyer jokingly chided the media for not asking any questions about his return to Chicago.
Now, in his fourth year, he returns to the Windy City.
“Duke wanted to get back on CBS and get Coach home to Chicago,” Starsiak said. “It should be a really killer game.”
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jefffedotin/2025/11/13/duke-vs-arkansas-on-thanksgiving-could-set-ratings-records-create-a-tradition/
