Amazon Trying to Land NFL Black Friday Game
Amazon has made a bid between $70 million and $100 million to air an NFL game on Black Friday. And according to Peter King, the NFL has passed a resolution to make it happen.
During NFL meetings last month, owners granted the league permission to schedule two more teams for a second short-week game, clearing the way for Amazon to air the NFL on the day after Thanksgiving.
King reports:
"Amazon Prime has wanted a Black Friday game, as part of its schedule in 2022, or at the latest by 2023. This resolution gave the NFL the ability to take two more teams and make them play, in this case, on the Friday following a Sunday game. For each, it would be the second time of the year playing on three- or four-days rest, something no coach will actually want to do."
If it goes through, the NFL will likely air the game in the afternoon. NBC Sports points out that the NFL can't televise primetime matchups on Friday nights in November due to an antitrust exemption.
The Thursday Night Football package to which Amazon now has exclusive rights does not include a Thanksgiving Thursday game. The trio of Thanksgiving games instead air on the broadcast networks, like Fox and NBC.
In a month in which streaming leader Netflix announced a subscriber decline, its competitors are loading up on live sports. In addition to Amazon, AppleTV+ is also close to a deal to carry NFL Sunday Ticket, the package that gives subscribers access to all out-of-market matchups.
The NFL's transition to streaming could be rocky since older viewers may not know how to find Amazon Prime or AppleTV+. Or even what an app is. Still, the tech companies, particularly Amazon and Apple, have more money than the television networks. By far. And the NFL will go where the money is.
The NFL will announce the full Amazon schedule, including any Black Friday game, by May 12, also known as Schedule Release Day.
Amazon already dominates Black Friday. So it might as well let online Prime shoppers watch football and order products at the same time.