The Detroit Lions are a real organization with real coaches and real players.

They have a really good chance to enjoy a marvelous season with real regular season wins and real playoff triumphs. They are not quite America’s team, but America has taken notice and they want a sliver of the Lions’ success.

The Lions mean real ratings for television and real revenue for the NFL. That means you must share your team with everyone else. The Lions are no longer an exclusive 1 p.m. Sunday regional buy. The NFL has bought in along with television.

That’s why the Lions have five national televised games for the 2023 season, which includes four prime time match ups.

It’s something we reported at Woodward Sports three weeks ago. You just did not believe us.

I don’t blame you.

That’s OK. This is a team nobody wanted to watch outside of Detroit.

Think about it. You are a hard working slob in Kansas City or Newark. You are an NFL fan. There was no joy or excitement about watching the Lions on Monday Night Football. There is now.

That’s why the Lions will kick off the entire season with the Kansas City Chiefs. The league got Lions fever when they won eight of their final 10 games and booted Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers out of playoff consideration with a season-ending victory at Lambeau Field.

An NFL executive said that was the overriding factor in the Lions kicking off the season with the Chiefs.

“That means we’ve got the league on notice,” safety Tracy Walker said on the Tim Twentymen podcast on DetroitLions.com. “The respect level is back to where it needs to be. Honestly, it is an honor for us to play on prime time. But we’ve still got to go out and win those games.”

Watch for two things to happen this season. Fans from other cities won’t bitch and moan about having to watch the Lions on Thanksgiving. We also won’t hear whispers about the league taking that game away.

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For more from the author Terry Foster, check him out on Twitter here: @terryfosterdet

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