Amazon will debut the long-awaited streaming launch of Thursday Night Football tonight with a matchup featuring the LA Chargers and the Kansas City Chiefs. The NFC West rivals come into the contest coming off week one wins in a game that could give the winner early momentum in the division race.
The big news in the sports industry though is that it will be the beginning of a whole new era of sports in the streaming world. Amazon has been streaming Thursday Night football for the past few years via a partnership with the NFL Network that allowed for a simulcast of the game, but signed a new contract with the shield to give Amazon Prime members exclusive rights to the Thursday game starting this season.
The game will be free to all of Amazon’s Prime Video subscribers and could certainly spur new signups as fans who until now have not paid attention to the service scramble to find the game. While streaming industry observers may be quite aware that the game will not be available over the air or via cable, many fans have probably missed the story. I would look to see if there is a rash of Amazon signups tonight. You can be sure Amazon will let the world know if that turns out to be the case.
The company essentially uses the video service as a way to get people into the door on its base business as the world’s biggest internet retailer. For all of the flash of products like Fire TV and its original streaming content what Amazon really wants people to do is get Prime for one reason or another and keep it forever so that they can order everything under the sun from expensive home electronics to socks and everything else in between.
Week 2 – Sept. 15: Los Angeles Chargers at Kansas City Chiefs (GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, MO)
Week 3 – Sept. 22: Pittsburgh Steelers at Cleveland Browns (FirstEnergy Stadium, Cleveland, OH)
Week 4 – Sept. 29: Miami Dolphins at Cincinnati Bengals (Paul Brown Stadium, Cincinnati, OH)
Week 5 – Oct. 6: Indianapolis Colts at Denver Broncos (Empower Field at Mile High, Denver, CO)
Week 6 – Oct. 13: Washington Commanders at Chicago Bears (Soldier Field, Chicago, IL)
Week 7 – Oct. 20: New Orleans Saints at Arizona Cardinals (State Farm Stadium, Glendale, AZ)
Week 8 – Oct. 27: Baltimore Ravens at Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, FL)
Week 9 – Nov. 3: Philadelphia Eagles at Houston Texans (NRG Stadium, Houston, TX)
Week 10 – Nov. 10: Atlanta Falcons at Carolina Panthers (Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, NC)
Week 11 – Nov. 17: Tennessee Titans at Green Bay Packers (Lambeau Field, Green Bay, WI)
Week 13 – Dec. 1: Buffalo Bills at New England Patriots (Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, MA)
Week 14 – Dec. 8: Las Vegas Raiders at Los Angeles Rams (SoFi Stadium, Inglewood, CA)
Week 15 – Dec. 15: San Francisco 49ers at Seattle Seahawks (Lumen Field, Seattle, WA)
Week 16 – Dec. 22: Jacksonville Jaguars at New York Jets (MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, NJ)
Week 17 – Dec. 29: Dallas Cowboys at Tennessee Titans (Nissan Stadium, Nashville, TN)
