Amazon Prime Video Makes History as the First Streaming Service to Secure an Exclusive National Broadcast Package From the NFL, Becoming the Home for Thursday Night Football Beginning in 2023
Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) has secured a landmark 10-year agreement with the NFL to exclusively broadcast 15 Thursday Night Football games and one pre-season game annually on Prime Video. This deal, commencing in 2023, represents the NFL's first exclusive digital broadcast package. The Thursday Night Football lineup increases from 11 to 15 games, providing Prime members with exclusive access. The partnership aims to enhance fan engagement through original programming, in-game highlights, and interactive features, contributing to Amazon's strategy to grow its Prime membership.
- Exclusive 10-year agreement with the NFL to broadcast 15 Thursday Night Football games annually.
- Increased game offerings from 11 to 15, boosting viewer engagement.
- Access to original NFL programming and expanded rights to in-game highlights.
- Integration of interactive features like X-Ray and Next Gen Stats enhances viewing experience.
- Historical first exclusive digital broadcast package for the NFL.
- None.
Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) and the National Football League (NFL) made history today by announcing a 10-year agreement to exclusively broadcast 15 Thursday Night Football games and one pre-season game per year on Prime Video in the United States. The Prime Video deal begins in 2023 and is the NFL’s first exclusive national broadcast package with a digital streaming service. The number of regular-season games included in the Thursday Night Football package is increasing from 11 to 15, with all games airing on Prime Video as part of a Prime membership.
“NFL games are the most watched live programming in the United States, and this unprecedented Thursday Night Football package gives tens of millions of new and existing Prime members exclusive access to must-watch live football on Prime Video,” said Mike Hopkins, SVP of Prime Video and Amazon Studios. “NFL fans from across the country will enjoy a premium viewing experience with Thursday Night Football, as well as access to a broad selection of content including award-winning Amazon Originals available on Prime Video.”
“Thursday Night Football will be our first-ever digital package and we are thrilled to exclusively partner with Amazon to bring our games to more fans on more platforms,” said NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. “NFL football drives passionate viewers and Amazon will enable us to continue to grow our fanbase in innovative and compelling ways.”
Prime Video will deliver new pre-game, half-time, and post-game shows, and it will continue to offer fan-favorite interactive features like X-Ray and Next Gen Stats, which provide a more customizable viewing experience. As part of the new deal, Prime Video also secured rights to a weekly slate of original NFL programming and expanded rights to in-game highlights for all NFL matchups. Prime Video and the NFL will continue to collaborate on exclusive NFL content and enhanced fan viewing experiences around Thursday Night Football, with more information to come ahead of the first game in 2023.
Today’s announcement is a continuation of an expanding relationship between the NFL and Amazon, which first distributed a simulcast of Thursday Night Football during the 2017 season. In April 2020, Amazon and the NFL expanded the existing 11-game Thursday Night Football package on Prime Video to include one exclusive regular-season game per year, the first of which was played on December 26 between the San Francisco 49ers and the Arizona Cardinals. The matchup drew an estimated 11.2 million total viewers and delivered the highest digital average-minute audience ever for an NFL regular-season game. Additionally, since 2017, the NFL has used Amazon Web Services (AWS) as its official cloud and machine learning provider for Next Gen Stats, which provides real-time location, speed, and acceleration data for every player during every play on every inch of the field.
In keeping with the NFL's long-standing commitment to make its games available on free, over-the-air television, each game will also be televised in the participating teams’ home marketplaces.
About Prime Video Sports
Prime Video supports a growing line-up of live sports globally, including Thursday Night Football, the New York Yankees, and Seattle Sounders FC in the United States; Premier League in the United Kingdom; U.S. Open Tennis, ATP, and WTA in the United Kingdom and Ireland; UEFA Champions League football in Germany and Italy; Roland Garros in France; Australian Swimming globally; and New Zealand Cricket in India. While availability varies by marketplace, fans can also subscribe to streaming services such as Eurosport, LaLigaTV, MLB.TV, NBA League Pass, NBA TV, and PGA TOUR LIVE through Prime Video Channels. This is in addition to a selection of Amazon Original All or Nothing sports docuseries including All or Nothing: Tottenham Hotspur and All or Nothing seasons with the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals, Los Angeles Rams, Dallas Cowboys, Carolina Panthers, and Philadelphia Eagles, as well as the NCAA’s Michigan Wolverines. All or Nothing: Toronto Maple Leafs and All or Nothing: Juventus are also coming to Prime Video later this year. For more information, visit amazon.com/primevideo and follow @SportsOnPrime on Twitter and Instagram.
Prime Video is just one of many shopping and entertainment benefits included with a Prime membership, along with fast, free shipping on millions of Prime-eligible items at Amazon.com, unlimited photo storage, exclusive deals and discounts, and access to ad-free music and Kindle eBooks. To sign up or start a 30-day free trial of Prime, visit: amazon.com/prime.
About Amazon
Amazon is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking. Customer reviews, 1-Click shopping, personalized recommendations, Prime, Fulfillment by Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Fire tablets, Fire TV, Amazon Echo, and Alexa are some of the products and services pioneered by Amazon. For more information, visit amazon.com/about and follow @AmazonNews.
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