New NFL rights deal hands Thursday Night Football to Amazon


Richard Lawler

Confirming the rumors, Amazon has dipped into the NFL’s latest broadcast rights package to become the exclusive home of Thursday Night Football through 2033. According to a report by CNBC, the deal will cost Amazon about $1 billion per year, without access to playoff games or the Super Bowl. Of course, Amazon isn’t the only company with internet video aspirations, and the eleven-year deal includes specific carve outs for some of the video services other partners are backing.

According to Amazon, “The Prime Video deal begins in 2023 and is the NFL’s first exclusive national broadcast package with a digital streaming service. The number of regular-season games included in the Thursday Night Football package is increasing from 11 to 15, with all games airing on Prime Video as part of a Prime membership.”

For Disney, other than securing Super Bowls on ABC/ESPN, it has also obtained the right to stream one International Series game exclusively on ESPN+ every year. Similarly, Fox expanded its digital rights for “future direct-to-consumer opportunities as well as NFL programming on FOX’s AVOD streaming service Tubi.” Beyond an “an NFL experience on Tubi” with video on-demand and condensed games, Fox also has “authorized sportsbook operator status” for Fox Bet when/if the NFL approves official sportsbook operators.

NBC also filled out its streaming arm, with plans to stream all postseason NBC NFL broadcasts on Peacock, including the Super Bowl in 2026, 2030 and 2034. Between 2023 and 2028 Peacock has exclusive national rights to six NFL games per season and will launch a “virtual NFL channel.” Before all that happens, Peacock will also simulcast NBC’s Sunday Night Football game starting this fall and present a special postgame show.

Last but not least, CBS also included streaming in its plans for the future. Paramount+ now has streaming rights for NFL games on both its premium and ad-supported packages, running from 2021 through 2033. Inside the NFL is streaming exclusively on Paramount+ from this season on.


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