The NFL is embarking on its first Black Friday football game, which will be broadcast on Friday, Nov. 24 at 3 p.m. ET when the Miami Dolphins the New York Jets. There has been a considerable amount of planning that has gone into the game, which is being presented for free by Amazon Prime Video as part of its media rights agreement with the NFL, and it will include various activations within and surrounding the matchup.
The coverage begins at 1:30 p.m. ET with an extended pregame show featuring the TNF Tonight broadcast crew, which will lead up to kickoff at MetLife Stadium.
Year-to-date, Amazon Prime Video is averaging 12.27 million total viewers according to measurement from Nielsen Media Research, which is a 26% increase through the first 10 games on the platform year-over-year. The enhanced streaming report from Nielsen that combines Amazon’s viewership data has accumulated an average minute audience of 13.43 million viewers across its media platforms.
The NFL as a whole is up 6% YoY in viewership, bringing in an average of 17.1 million viewers, which is the highest average at this moment in a season since 2015. It will now be looking to instantiate a new holiday tradition with the power of an online retailer that has launched a growing streaming platform and is reportedly exploring more ways to become involved in the sports media space.
“The time being right really goes back to last spring when we had to make the decision about playing a game on Black Friday,” Hans Schroeder, NFL executive vice president of media distribution, said on Tuesday. “I think the time that made it feel right is we had a full season of Thursday Night Football on Amazon.”
The goal in working with Amazon was not to simulcast a television product on the digital OTT streaming platform but rather to innovate within the broadcast property and enhance the viewership experience. With the company’s impressive first-year performance, the two sides were able to come to terms on and begin planning a special addition to the schedule and slate of games.
“It just felt like that perfect marriage and intersection to really come together, and I think we have a great plan,” Schroeder said. “The 3 o’clock time slot allows us to do stuff to build before it and sort of do some entertainment things on the Amazon side afterwards.”
Throughout the game, which will include play-by-play announcer Al Michaels, color commentator Kirk Herbstreit, and reporter Kaylee Hartung, Amazon will present exclusive deals scannable via a QR code on the screen.
Moreover, award-winning celebrity chef David Chang will join the broadcast and explore the tailgate scene surrounding the Meadowlands Sports Complex.
YouTube sports comedy group Dude Perfect will also present an alternate broadcast within the time slot, joining additional streams showcasing Prime Vision with Next Gen Stats and a Spanish language viewing option. After the contest concludes, Prime Video will present an exclusive concert with country music artist Garth Brooks for all fans to enjoy.
“We’ve put a lot against it in terms of promotion and marketing, but we’ll just have to see,” Jay Marine, vice president of Prime Video and global head of sports at Amazon, said regarding anticipated viewership figures. “It’s a new window, and so I expect it’ll continue to grow year after year in the same way.”
Last year’s Thanksgiving Day game between the New York Giants and Dallas Cowboys on FOX Sports was the highest-rated regular-season contest on record, averaging 42 million viewers. Despite the success of that contest, along with the 60-year tradition that has had the Cowboys and Lions play on the holiday, the league views the forthcoming Black Friday game in a different manner. Rather than designating a team to play in the time slot, Schroeder presumes the NFL Black Friday football game will operate on a year-by-year basis and incorporate different locales.
“We’ve had multiple teams reach out and ask if they could be the annual host for the game,” Schroeder said. “….Our focus is much more on the opportunity to rotate this [and] give another market and NFL market the opportunity to host a really unique and exciting thing.”
