The National Football League announced Thursday it has reached an agreement to renew its exclusive partnership with Amazon Prime Video to deliver a live OTT digital stream of Thursday Night Football, Presented by Bud Light to a global audience across devices during the 2018 and 2019 NFL seasons. 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, once again securing the league's "Tri-Cast" model of broadcast (FOX), cable (NFL Network, FOX Deportes), and digital (Amazon Prime Video) distribution.
The Thursday Night Football games will be made available to the over 100 million Amazon Prime members worldwide in over 200 countries and territories, on the Prime Video app for TVs, game consoles, and connected devices, which includes Amazon Fire TV, mobile devices and online. Thursday Night Football on Prime Video will provide members a unique viewing experience complete with interactive features that bring fans closer to the game. The TNF games will also be available to Twitch viewers. The NFL and Amazon 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."
"Our customers love to stream football -- last year, we successfully debuted NFL Thursday Night Football on Prime Video in the U.S. and around the world," said Jeff Blackburn, Senior Vice President Business Development & Entertainment at Amazon. "We're thrilled to continue our relationship with the NFL and offer Prime members another two seasons of Thursday Night Football."
The NFL and Amazon first partnered for distribution of Thursday Night Football during the 2017 season. In January, FOX Sports was awarded a five-year deal for Thursday Night Football that includes games between Weeks 4-15 (excluding Thanksgiving night) to be broadcast on FOX, simulcast via NFL Network and distributed in Spanish on FOX Deportes.
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 three of the docuseries will launch on Friday, April 27 with All or Nothing: The Dallas Cowboys.
Presented by Bud Light, the 13-game Thursday Night Football schedule for the 2018 season features 11 games on FOX/NFL Network/FOX Deportes and Amazon, and two NFL Network exclusive games.
The 2018 Thursday Night Football schedule kicks off Week 2 when the Baltimore Ravens visit the Cincinnati Bengals on Thursday, September 13 in an AFC North divisional matchup exclusively on NFL Network. The 2018 Thursday Night Football slate of games on FOX/NFL Network/FOX Deportes and Amazon begins Week 4 when the Los Angeles Rams host the Minnesota Vikings on Thursday, September 27 in a matchup of two playoff teams from 2017. All Thursday Night Football games will kick off at 8:20 PM ET.
The NFL is the most valuable content in all of sports and entertainment with nine of television's 10 most-watched programs of the calendar year in 2017. Thursday Night Football is a top-5 show in all of television and the No. 2 show in primetime.
For more information about Thursday Night Football, including ways to watch, visit: nfl.com/tnf
