On Thursday, America will gather around the dinner table to celebrate one of our oldest and most cherished holidays. While Thanksgiving dates back to 1621, it also has been marked by a love affair with football for more than 100 years. The first Thanksgiving Day game was played between Yale and Princeton in 1876, and the first NFL game to be broadcast nationally came on Thanksgiving 1934 when the Lions hosted the Bears.

As we sit down to feast, we count our blessings and be thankful for family, friends and good health. But for NFL bettors, it’s all about Turkey Day favorites.

Betting favorites in the NFL is not a profitable strategy. Since 2003, regular-season favorites have gone 2,048-2,088 against the spread with 125 pushes. This amounts to a 49.5 percent cover rate. This record doesn’t sound that bad — just below 50 percent. However, because you had to pay the juice for each bet, a $100 bettor taking each favorite would be down $12,513. This year has been the year of the underdog, with 2019 ’dogs going 96-75 ATS (56.5 percent), winning +15.82 units. In turn, favorites are only 43.5 percent ATS with -25.23 units lost.

Why is backing favorites a losing endeavor? Because the betting public loves betting on favorites, which leads to them being overvalued and overpriced. On the surface, it makes sense. If you want to place a bet, you should bet on the “better” team. However, the sportsbooks know this public bias toward favorites and as a result, they shade lines further toward them. This forces public bettors to take bad numbers and leads to inflated line value on underdogs.

Also, if it were as easy as betting all favorites, Average Joes would become millionaires and Vegas would go bankrupt. And we all know that isn’t the case.

However, there is one special time of year when laying the points is profitable. You guessed it, Thanksgiving. Here are some facts to chew on as you get ready for Bears (-1) at Lions at 12:30, Cowboys (-7) vs. Bills at 4:30 and Saints (-6 ¹/₂) at Falcons at 8:20:

Since 2003, favorites have gone an absurd 30-11 ATS (73.2 percent) on Thanksgiving Day, covering the last seven in a row. A $100 bettor taking every Turkey Day favorite would be up $1,787 over this time frame. The most incredible part is that these games haven’t even been that close. These favorites have a cover margin of 6.06 points, meaning if a team is -6, it typically has won by 12 points.

Any way you slice it, Turkey Day favorites are profitable. Home favorites are 15-8 ATS (65.2 percent) and road favorites are 15-3 ATS (83.3 percent). Short favorites -3 or less are 11-3 ATS (78.6 percent), moderate favorites -3 to -7 are 13-8 ATS (61.9 percent) and bigger favorites -7 or more are 15-3 ATS (83.3 percent). Favorites coming off a win are 24-11 ATS (68.6 percent) while favorites coming off a loss are a perfect 6-0 ATS (100 percent).

If the line stays the same or moves further toward the favorite (think -6 to -7), Turkey Day favorites are 20-6 ATS (76.9 percent).

This edge to favorites lines up similarly with how favorites perform in regular Thursday Night Football. Since 2003, Thursday Night favorites have gone 111-80 ATS (58 percent).

One reason why Thursday favorites perform so well is the short week. With only four days between games, this quick turnaround provides a big edge to the “better” team with the superior players and smarter coaching staffs. Add in the holiday element where both teams have family commitments after the game and the favorite edge is amplified even more. Interestingly, there has been no edge to Thanksgiving Day totals, as Unders are just 21-20 (51.2 percent).

Remember: Betting favorites year round is a good way to bankrupt your bankroll, but not on Thanksgiving. Consider this favorite trend a gift from the sportsbooks. Now just make sure you find time in between the green bean casserole and the pumpkin pie to sneak away from the table and put your bet in on time for the late game.

Find VSiN’s Josh Appelbaum on Twitter: @Josh_Insights