Amazon’s Prime Video gets exclusive rights to NFL ‘Black Friday’ game in 2023
By: The Associated Press, Published on Mon Jun 21 2017
Amazon’s Prime Video gets exclusive rights to the NFL’s “Black Friday” game in 2023, the NFL’s first and only “Black Friday” game on Amazon’s video service, according to a person familiar with the agreement.
The agreement for NFL games to air on the streaming service came at the league’s behest when the NFL asked Amazon to create a streaming service that could carry the national pastime. Amazon declined, saying a free tier would not be appealing enough for fans.
The NFL said the deal with Amazon only covers the 2023 “Black Friday” game in the league’s current broadcast package, which consists of two games each season. The deal is expected to be announced on Wednesday during the NFL owners meetings in New York.
“The NFL has been working with a number of partners to identify the optimal television partner to carry the NFL’s Black Friday games through 2022,” the NFL said in a statement. “We remain committed to being the premier destination for people and events around the NFL season.”
In a statement, Amazon said the NFL and the league reached “a long-term agreement for the exclusive and global rights to carry the NFL’s Black Friday game in 2023.”
“We continue to value the NFL’s partnership for its unique and powerful reach, and we believe that the NFL’s decision to make its Black Friday game exclusive to Prime Video with no other national or international TV partners demonstrates the unique value the NFL brings to its fans,” Amazon said. “We will continue to provide the NFL’s fans with great and affordable access to NFL content on Prime Video, including many other live events, on-demand programming, and other new features that will help fans watch more NFL games and watch them more frequently.”
Amazon was not immediately available for further comment.
The NFL said it would use a third-party studio for the games, but would not reveal the studio’s name.
The NFL’s streaming video service will be able to offer “premium and exclusive access” to the games, its president, Mark Waller, said in a statement. Waller said Amazon has “made important contributions to the NFL footprint.”
The “Black Friday” game would be the only NFL game to carry on Amazon’s new Prime Video service. The
