Topline
The NFL will play a game on Black Friday streamed on Amazon next year, the league announced Tuesday, expanding the lucrative partnership between the trillion-dollar e-commerce giant and the wealthiest sports league as each looks to extend their dominance around the Thanksgiving holiday.
Amazon took over as the broadcaster of Thursday NFL games this year.
Key Facts
Amazon, the exclusive broadcaster of Thursday Night Football beginning this fall, is “uniquely positioned” to air the Black Friday game given the significance the day already holds for the company’s retail business, Hans Schroeder, NFL Media’s chief operating officer, said in a statement.
This will be the first ever NFL game on Black Friday, though the league’s three nationally televised contests on Thanksgiving Day generate massive interest: Each of the 2021 Thanksgiving games averaged more than 19 million viewers, ranking among the top 50 most-watched telecasts of the year, according to Sports Business Journal, while CBS’ Thanksgiving broadcast of the Las Vegas Raiders and Dallas Cowboys tilt was the most-watched regular season game of the season with 37.84 million viewers.
Amazon paid the NFL $13 billion to air Thursday games through 2033 and is banking on it to drive up Prime subscriptions, though ratings have been mixed so far this year.
Amazon’s first five broadcasts have averaged 10.8 million viewers, according to the league, citing Nielsen data, falling short of the 14.91 million average viewers Thursday Night Football broadcasts simulcast on Fox and NFL Network drew last year, though the NFL reports a 25% increase in viewers in the most valuable 18 to 49 demographic, compared to the first five Thursday Night Football last year.
Surprising Fact
Amazon had its most Prime subscription signups over a three-hour period ever during its first Thursday Night Football broadcast, beating any stretch on busy shopping periods like Prime Day, Cyber Monday or Black Friday, according to an internal memo from Jay Marine, Prime Video’s global head of sports viewed by Forbes last month.
Key Background
The deal with Amazon was part of the NFL’s broader 10-year, $110 billion media rights agreement inked last March. Thursday Night Football is part of Amazon’s massive push into live sports, also exclusively carrying 16 regular-season WNBA games and some local broadcasts for the MLB’s New York Yankees, WNBA’s Seattle Storm and MLS’ Seattle Sounders.
Tangent
Amazon had the dubious distinction of airing Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa’s violent head and neck injury during Miami’s September 29 matchup with the Cincinnati Bengals. Ratings fell for each of Amazon’s next two broadcasts, according to Nielsen ratings cited by Sports Media Watch, though it’s likely because both games were low-scoring affairs between less marquee teams.
Further Reading
NFL’s Thursday Kickoff Marks Pivotal Moment For Amazon And Other Tech Giants’ Live Sports Future (Forbes)
SPORTS TV RIGHTS ARE COSTLIER THAN EVER — BUT THEY’RE CABLE’S LAST LIFELINE (Bloomberg)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/dereksaul/2022/10/18/nfl-announces-2023-black-friday-game-on-amazon/