NFL And Amazon Renew Thursday Night Streaming Deal Through 2019
April 26, 2018
NFL And Amazon Renew Thursday Night Streaming Deal Through 2019
The NFL, which recently changed up its Thursday night broadcast plan by setting a new, long-term deal with Fox, has stuck with existing streaming partner Amazon for the prime-time games. The renewal is good for the 2018 and 2019 seasons.
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Amazon Prime will stream the 11 Thursday Night Football games broadcast by Fox, which will also be simulcast on NFL Network and distributed in Spanish on FOX Deportes. The e-commerce behemoth beat out multiple other contenders for the streaming rights, which have gone from a curiosity when Yahoo Sports streamed a game from London in 2015 to a de rigeur, high-priced feature of the sports rights landscape. Twitter had previously handled streaming of Thursday night games.
Games will be made available to the more than 100 million Amazon Prime members worldwide in 200-plus countries and territories. Viewers will be able to access the games via the Prime Video app on TVs, game consoles, and connected devices, which includes Amazon Fire TV, mobile devices and online.
Amazon and the NFL promised “interactive features that bring fans closer to the game” during the Thursday streams, which will also be available to Twitch viewers. The league and the company will also collaborate on additional NFL content opportunities and enhanced fan viewing experiences, including making the games available on Twitch’s interactive social video service.
“Amazon was a tremendous partner for Thursday Night Football in 2017 and as we continue our mission of delivering NFL games to fans whether they watch on television or on digital platforms, we are excited to work with them again for the next two seasons,” said Brian Rolapp, Chief Media and Business Officer for the NFL. “Having over 100 million Amazon Prime members provides a massive platform to distribute Thursday Night Football digitally, not only to our fans in the United States but also around the world.”
Jeff Blackburn, Senior Vice President Business Development & Entertainment at Amazon, affirmed, “Our customers love to stream football.”
The multiyear renewal continues a strong partnership between the NFL and Amazon which, in addition to Thursday Night Football, also features the Emmy-winning Prime Original series All or Nothing. Produced by NFL Films, Season 3 of the docuseries will launch on Friday with All or Nothing: The Dallas Cowboys.