There’s been Thanksgiving football since the 19th Century when the University of Michigan would annually take on the University of Chicago Maroons in an olde time college tilt. Now, watching the pigskin get tossed around is as much a holiday tradition as awkward tension around the dining table and dangerously high serum glucose levels.
Since 1934, the NFL offered Turkey Day competition with the misadventures of the Detroit Lions. Since that risked America’s appetite on its own, the league added a second traditional annual game with the Dallas Cowboys in 1966. Now, when you watch a 21st Century tilt in person at the Cowboys’ cutting edge AT&T Stadium, it’s clear how far the experience of watching a simple game evolved.
Capable of seating 100,000, AT&T Stadium puts ore than 80,000 in the stands for a Cowboys game. A lucky squadron of those rabid Cowboy fans can step away from the modern NFL’s brand of constant sensory assault by gaining access to the Lincoln Motor Company’s Founders Club. The special game time accommodations are perhaps the most visible in-stadium presence for Lincoln as the official luxury vehicle of the Dallas Cowboys.
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Sponsored by Lincoln as part of the luxury automaker’s special partnership with the NFL’s Cowboys and their AT&T Stadium home turf, the Founders Club that hosted my Thanksgiving Day football foray offers both an indoor luxury box setting with ample TV views of the game and outdoor seating just outside the suite if a fan wants to feel closer to the throng.
Of course, to promote Lincoln’s identity as one of America’s premiere car builders, The Founders Club that wears its name has to offer a more refined entertainment experience. So, Lincoln’s setup includes two bars offering a full range of beer, soft drinks, wine and mixed drinks — alongside a spread of food that appears before kickoff and stays replenished until after the final gun in case guests want to remain for a little while so the riffraff can depart.
The in-game also stays in keeping with the uptown image and construction principles of Lincoln. Yes, any Founders Club fan in attendance can get a hold of a hot dog or a barbecued chicken finger — but the crab legs and shrimp on standby offer more of that Lincoln sizzle.
The Lincoln connection with the Dallas Cowboys is far from random. Sure, a lot of automakers look to find sponsorship deals within the NFL’s framework, but Lincoln sought out the Dallas identity. For all of its wild west connotations, the Cowboys’ oft-debated collective personae as “America’s Team” combines with the considerable wealth centered on the Dallas metroplex to make the franchise one of the league’s richest.
The team’s 21st Century move to AT&T Stadium further cemented the Cowboys’ presentation as of the league’s fanciest and most technology advanced. Those are words that Lincoln likes associated with its machines, so you can expect Cowboys and Continentals to get along for years to come.
