Prime Video to Debut 'Thursday Night Football' Tonight

By Brian Jones

The NFL will enter a new era tonight. Prime Video will officially debut Thursday Night Football and will be the exclusive home for the NFL's Thursday night package. As mentioned by Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, the weekly game will be seen on over-the-air channels in the two markets involved in the given contest. 

Tonight's game will be a preseason contest between the Houston Texans and the San Francisco 49ers and will kick off at 8:15 p.m. ET. It will start right after the Green Bay Packers vs. Kansas City Chiefs game that will air on the NFL Network at 8 p.m. ET. Prime Video had a dress rehearsal last week when the Houston Texans took on the Los Angeles Rams, but that game was on Friday. 

The broadcast will feature Al Michaels and Kirk Herbstreit calling the game from the booth. Prime Video will also have pregame, halftime and postgame coverage hosted by Charissa Thompson. It's not clear who will join Thompson on the coverage tonight, but once the regular season beings, she will be joined by former NFL players Andrew Whitworth, Tony Gonzalez, Richard Sherman, and Ryan Fitzpatrick.

"I'm beyond thrilled to be joining Prime Video's Thursday Night Football crew on the road each week this season," Thompson said in a press release. "This is an exciting opportunity for me to expand my NFL responsibilities and I can't wait to work with Ryan, Richard—whom I affectionately call 'Sherm' (12th Man respect)— and my old friend Tony Gonzalez." 

Kaylee Hartung, who is known for her work on ABC News, will be the sideline reporter this year. "This is an unbelievable opportunity to return to the sidelines and create something new in the sports landscape," Hartung said. "Prime Video is bringing together legends in broadcasting and the NFL and it will be a tremendous privilege to work alongside them."

Amazon acquired the exclusive rights to Thursday Night Football as part of the next round of the NFL's broadcasting agreements from 2023 to 2033. Prime Video was able to jump on the package a year early because NFL Network, Fox and Amazon opted out of the final year of the agreement. Thursday Night Football on Prime Video will make its regular season debut on Sept. 15 when the Los Angeles Chargers take on the Kansas City Chiefs. 

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