Amazon’s Exclusive Streaming Deal With The NFL To Kick Off 1 Year Earlier Than Anticipated

Tubefilter’s coverage of the 2021 IAB NewFronts is brought to you in partnership with BEN – an entertainment AI company that integrates brands into influencer, streaming, TV, music, and film content. You can check out all our NewFronts coverage right here. 

---

Amazon’s exclusive streaming deal with the NFL for Thursday Night Football (TNF) is set to kick off one year earlier than anticipated.

Beginning in 2022, Amazon Prime members will gain exclusive access to 15 TNF games, plus one preseason game annually. The deal will last for a total of 11 years, through the 2032 season. While the terms of the agreement have not been disclosed, the average annual rights fee for TNF is roughly $1.2 billion, The Wall Street Journal

report, which is how much Amazon paid for the additional season.

Amazon’s deal with the NFL was first announced in March, and was previously set to kick off in 2023. Accordingly, after this season, TNF will no longer air on FOX. That said, each game will continue to be televised in participating teams’ home markets.

“This expedited deal is an immediate differentiator for us as a service, as it gives Prime members exclusive access to the most popular sport in the United States,” Marie Donoghue, Amazon’s VP of global sports video, said in a statement.

Amazon said it would share additional production details in coming months, though during its NewFront presentation stated that it would continue to deliver pre-game, half-time, and post-game shows, as well as customizable stats within the stream in real-time. As part of the deal, Amazon is also getting rights to a slate of weekly NFL programming, and expanded rights to in-game highlights from all NFL games.

Amazon first began streaming TNF in 2017, snatching up rights previously owned by Twitter, with games simultaneously airing on NBC, CBS, and the NFL Network.

---

BEN is an entertainment AI company that integrates brands into influencer, streaming, TV, music, and film content with guaranteed ROI. With its proprietary AI and platform, BEN is the first and only company using machine learning and deep learning neural networks to identify high-impact opportunities for authentic, non-disruptive brand integrations. BEN combines its AI with 40+ years of experience and a team of industry experts to connect brands with the right audiences and content opportunities in meaningful ways. If you’d like to find out how BEN can increase your sales by 10x (like we have done for our other clients), then get in touch with us today.