NFL Extends Thursday Night Streaming Contract With Amazon

The NFL and Amazon announced they have reached a multi-year agreement to renew their partnership to stream Thursday Night Football on hundreds of devices. Amazon Prime Video and Twitch will stream 11 Thursday Night Football games broadcast by Fox, which means the games will reach more than 150 million Prime members worldwide. The games are also expected to be simulcast on the NFL Network.

"As our relationship has expanded, Amazon has become a trusted and valued partner of the NFL," Brian Rolapp, Chief Media and Business Officer for the NFL, said in a press release. "Extending this partnership around Thursday Night Football continues our critical mission of delivering NFL games to as many fans in as many ways as possible both in the United States and around the world." Along with the streaming of 11 Thursday games, the NFL and Amazon have agreed to exclusively stream a game on Prime Video and Twitch, which will be played on Saturday in the second half of the season.

"We are thrilled to renew our Thursday Night Football deal with the NFL, and are excited to expand our relationship to include exclusive global streaming rights to an additional regular season game in 2020," Marie Donoghue, Vice President of Global Sports Video at Amazon, said. "We know Prime members and the Twitch community around the world love the NFL, and we remain committed to giving them the best and most customizable streaming experience possible, with a broad selection of premium content available at their fingertips."

The partnership with the NFL and Amazon started in 2017. Last year, Thursday Night Football averaged an audience of 15.4 million viewers, including Fox, NFL Network, Fox Deportes, NFL Digital, Fox Sports digital, Prime Video, Twitch, and Verizon Media mobile properties. Along with Thursday Night Football, the NFL and Amazona have worked together to produce the documentary series All or Nothing. In February, All or Nothing: The Philadelphia Eagles was released exclusively on Prime Video, and it tells the story of the 2019 Eagles who won the NFC East.

Thursday Night Football started in 2006 with an eight-game schedule on the NFL Network. It was expanded to 13 games in 2012. CBS partnered with the NFL in 2014 and 2015 to broadcast 16 Thursday night games. NBC and CBS teamed up with the NFL Network to present Thursday Night Football with digital distribution from Twitter in 2016 and Amazon in 2017. Fox Sports started airing Thursday Night Football in 2018.