Lions 'knew what they were getting into' when pushing for Germany

The Lions don't have a bye week following their contest against the Patriots in Germany, but they did receive their wish of not playing on the Thursday after Thanksgiving, something the NFL had them do in both 2024 and 2025. Last season, Detroit's matchup with the Dallas Cowboys seven days after Thanksgiving drew 20 million viewers, "a high-water mark for the Amazon (Prime) schedule," North said.

More: Lions schedule: This four-game stretch will decide 2026 season

Not playing the Thursday after Thanksgiving (the league refers to that window as the "wrap-around game") gives the Lions a 10-day break before they visit the Atlanta Falcons on Dec. 6 in Week 13. "The Lions asked us to give some serious consideration to maybe taking a pass on that (wrap-around game) for them this year. So, knowing they were going to Germany, home, short week, Thursday, they were really hoping to see that 10-day break post Thanksgiving, as opposed to yet another Thursday to Thursday. ... A lot of attention paid to it," North said.

"Credit to the team, really, for volunteering. They knew what they were getting into, and I think it broke the way they hoped it would."

More: Game-by-game predictions for 2026 Lions after schedule release

Of the 16 teams playing internationally in 2026, three (Patriots, Jacksonville Jaguars and New Orleans Saints) have a bye week immediately afterward. Another three teams have their bye week within two weeks of their international appearance. Detroit's bye week will come in Week 6.

"Lots of teams get their bye before, after — well after — their international travel," North said. "Nobody dictates any longer, 'Here's exactly how I want my travel to go since I'm being willing to go international for you guys this year.' That's not the case anymore. We're sensitive (about team's concerns). ... We talk to everybody. I'd like to think we're pretty honest and pretty transparent. I hope the clubs would say the same. But nobody gets to dictate, 'All right, if I go, here's exactly how it's going to go down.' The only person that dictates that is the commissioner of the National Football League."

'No hesitation' from broadcasters

The Lions currently have eight games set to be on national television next season, including four contests to be played on Sunday (Weeks 4, 15), Monday (Week 16) or Thursday (Week 2) nights. The other national broadcasts include their matchups in Munich (Week 10), on Thanksgiving (Week 12) and a pair of 4:25 p.m. meetings with the Green Bay Packers (Week 7) and Chicago Bears (Week 17).

"It's not often that a team playing the fourth-place schedule finds itself on that many national television windows, but there was no hesitation by any of our broadcast partners this year to continue to lean into the Lions," North said. "They are — I don't know if you'd call them a Super Bowl favorite, but I don't think any of us would bat an eye thinking that they're going to be playoff relevant. Heck, everybody in that division, right? I think the whole division finished over .500 last year.

"So, no hesitation at all to find themselves in national television windows."

rsilva@detroitnews.com

@rich_silva18

This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Detroit Lions were aware of schedule crunch when pushing for Germany