More details are coming out in regards to Amazon’s deal to stream Thursday Night Football in 2017. We know about the reported $50 million rights fee to put 10 games on Amazon Prime, but there’s more. Bloomberg reports that the deal includes as much as $30 million in free marketing and promotion for the league bringing the total value to as much as $80 million.
Amazon’s bid for Thursday Night Football was five times higher than Twitter’s $10 million fee for 2016. Amazon will offer the NFL to subscribers of its video service which can cost $99 annually or $10.99 per month. And it will promote the league across its platforms.
The latest
Last year, the NFL and Amazon partnered on an original series, All or Nothing: A Season With the Arizona Cardinals last year and the new season of All or Nothing will focus on the Los Angeles Rams. And you could say that streaming partnership for the All or Nothing series helped paved the way for this larger TNF deal.
As we have seen, the value of having the NFL for its TV partners of CBS, ESPN, Fox and NBC comes not just in ratings, but the worth of having it promote its primetime and late night lineups and producing shoulder programming week after week.
Amazon hopes that by having the NFL, the $30 million worth of marketing and promotion will lead to the purchasing of jerseys, t-shirts, helmets, DVD’s, books, videos and other products.
The partnership between Amazon and the NFL is just beginning, but it could lead to a long-term relationship if this season is successful.
About Ken Fang
Ken has been covering the sports media in earnest at his own site, Fang's Bites since May 2007 and at Awful Announcing since March 2013.
He provides a unique perspective having been an award-winning radio news reporter in Providence and having worked in local television.
Fang celebrates the four Boston Red Sox World Championships in the 21st Century, but continues to be a long-suffering Cleveland Browns fan.