NEW RESEARCH: Thanksgiving 2026 - The Holiday Playbook

GET THE REPORT: Thanksgiving 2026: The Holiday Playbook

The sports broadcasting industry has a golden goose, and it doesn't just cluck on Sundays. According to new data from Looper Insights, the Connected TV (CTV) home screen during Thanksgiving week has evolved from a single-day football event into the most commercially concentrated, high-stakes window of the streaming year.

Last year, Thanksgiving Day helped lift total US TV viewership by 5.5% in November, with Americans watching a staggering 103.4 billion minutes on the day alone. But 2026 brings an unprecedented lineup: a 7-day, 9-sport viewing calendar featuring the NFL, NBA Cup, NHL Thanksgiving Showdown, Premier League, and MLS Cup.

Here is how the data from the past two years sets the stage for the ultimate battle for home screen visibility, and what it means for the future of CTV real estate.

Test your knowledge with the Looper Insights "Thanksgiving 2026: The Holiday Playbook" Interactive Tool! See if you can accurately predict if Black Friday promotions will break the $25M mark in 2026!

The Netflix Effect & The 2026 Stage

The 2026 window has a new shape, and the biggest disruptor is stepping onto the field. Netflix will make its Thanksgiving NFL debut (Green Bay Packers at Los Angeles Rams on Wednesday, November 25), fundamentally altering the competitive environment.

• The Baseline: NFL viewership hit an all-time high of 44.7 million across three marquee matchups in 2025, generating $10.49 million in total Dollar Media Placement Value ($MPV™).

• The Disruption: With a subscriber base no other service comes close to, Netflix’s entry alone changes the nature of competition on the home screen. If Netflix occupies the Roku hero placement from the moment users open the app on Wednesday night, it could command $364K+ in value for a single placement, forcing competitors to scramble for alternative visibility.

Why it matters: Live sport and prestige drama now command identical audiences. The question for 2026 is not whether the viewers will be there—they always are. The question is who owns the screen when they arrive. Rights holders and services must plan for a highly contested window where securing a premium home-screen position is a prerequisite, not a bonus.

Black Friday: The Real CTV MVP

The NFL may set the tone for the Thanksgiving window, but it no longer holds the ultimate crown for promotional value.

The Metric: In 2025, Black Friday CTV promotional value across the week—spanning films, TV shows, deals, and entertainment—hit $19.57 million in total $MPV™.

• The Shift: This exceeded the value of the NFL itself ($10.49 million). Black Friday has announced itself not as a retail echo, but as a massive, multi-day subscriber acquisition moment that services are actively building campaigns around. Placements like Paramount+'s $2.99 offer on Vizio TVs proved that blending entertainment and sports content with a subscription deal drives massive value.

Get the report: Thanksgiving 2026: The Holiday Playbook

Why it matters: The home screen has become the most commercially dense surface in streaming. Treating Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday as a single multi-day campaign generates compounding returns. Services entering 2026 without purpose-built, acquisition-driven creative for this specific window are leaving their most powerful conversion lever unused.

Beyond the Gridiron: The Multi-Sport Boom

While football anchors the holiday, the data proves that non-NFL sports can command the exact same premium real estate.

• NBA at Scale: The NBA committed to Thanksgiving with genuine presence in 2025, generating $3.48 million in total $MPV™. Crucially, Prime Video's top Roku placement for the NBA matched the NFL's peak placement value ($364K).

• Targeted Device Strategies: The NHL mapped lower-penetration surfaces with precision, finding high value on Xumo Charter ($75.6K) and Apple TV ($39.2K).

Why it matters: The window is bigger than game-day thinking accounts for. Non-NFL sports rights holders who secure the right placements on the right devices can generate material returns. The full CTV device ecosystem pays dividends for those who strategize beyond the highest-tier platforms.

Test your knowledge with the Looper Insights "Thanksgiving 2026: The Holiday Playbook" Interactive Tool! See if you can accurately predict if Black Friday promotions will break the $25M mark in 2026!

Things To Do About This Now

1. Secure Hero Placements Early
The MPV™ 24 hero position on high-penetration devices delivers consistent $MPV™ value. On Roku, this translated to $364K in both 2024 and 2025. With Netflix entering in 2026, demand for premium home-screen positions will be higher than at any previous Thanksgiving. Plan and commit earlier than in prior years.

2. Build the Black Friday Offer First
The Thanksgiving window is defined by acquisition-driven creative. Annual subscription deals give audiences a reason to commit. Ensure your placement features league branding, compelling visuals, matchup clarity, a clear streaming destination, and a well-timed promotional offer.

3. Map the Full Device Ecosystem
Don't just fight for Roku. Meaningful returns come from beyond a single OS. Strong $MPV™ returns were observed across Fire TV, Samsung TV, and Apple TV. The multi-device playbook is essential as the sheer volume of sports fragments the viewing audience across different hardware.

4. Check out the Looper Insights "Thanksgiving 2026: The Holiday Playbook" Interactive Tool to test your streaming knowledge!

5. Download the Looper Insights report. They've been a great partner to State of Streaming and bring a truly unique take to the dynamics playing out in streaming and connected TV.