Entering the second season of Thursday Night Football on Amazon Prime Video, just what constitutes success will be judged on a variety of different factors. Last year, the property outperformed expectations by drawing an average of 11.3 million viewers per broadcast according to data from Amazon and Nielsen Media Research. As the calendar turns towards the new season, the property will look to augment its viewership while keeping the focus on the game of football.
Highlighting the schedule this year is a Black Friday matchup between the Miami Dolphins and New York Jets. Prime Video Vice President Jay Marine expressed that the company will utilize its resources ahead of the matchup, which is expected to become a yearly tradition for the league.
“The NFL has been a great partner,” Marine said. “Part of Black Friday shows that we’re excited about what we put on air last year, including the younger audience we delivered, which was eight years younger than the year before.”
Marine is focused on the property showing sustained levels of improvement for the consumers, recognizing that the game always needs to come first. Despite Amazon’s streaming technology possessing various capabilities outside of the purview of traditional linear networks, the company is being strategic in terms of its use. The fact that the league granted the property flex scheduling ability, however, demonstrates that it is interested in innovation over the course of the 11-year media rights deal.
“We’re very appreciative that they worked hard to improve the schedule,” Marine said. “Ultimately, it’s for the best of our viewers and also the best of the NFL to have all of their prime-time games be fantastic matchups. I think there was just logistics and things they have to think through, which are valid.”
As the NBA draws closer to the expiration of its national media rights deal following the 2024-25 season, Marine emphasized that Prime Video will continue to be “aggressive,” yet “rational” pertaining to live sports rights.
“Sports are unique; they are uniquely valuable,” Marine said. “Because of that, they’ve also been uniquely expensive. Having said that, they can do things that other things can’t because it’s a guaranteed audience.”
With the ongoing strikes by SAG-AFTRA and WGA against AMPTP, live sports figure to play a large role in the fall television programming lineup. Additionally, cost-cutting measures have befallen various media companies this year such as Warner Bros. Discovery, The Walt Disney Company and Paramount Global. Amazon also endured some of their own, but still remains committed to the agreement they made with the NFL.
“We’re going to continue putting everything against that, including the best people on camera,” Marine said of the media rights deal. “[There is] really no impact to that.”
