The National Football League (NFL) has renewed and expanded its partnership with Amazon, allowing Amazon Prime Video and Twitch to stream Thursday Night Football to its Prime members worldwide.
Amazon has also secured rights to exclusively stream one additional regular season NFL game in 2020 to its global audiences of 150 members in more than 200 countries.
Brian Rolapp, Chief Media and Business Officer for the NFL stated: “As our relationship has expanded, Amazon has become a trusted and valued partner of the NFL.
“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.”
All 11 Thursday night games will also be available to watch on FOX and the NFL Network, keeping in line with the league’s ‘Tri-Cast’ model of broadcast, cable, and digital distribution.’
Whilst Amazon will gain one exclusive regular season game, the match will still be available on free, over-the-air television, for the participating team’s markets.
Marie Donoghue, Vice President of Global Sports Video at Amazon added: “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.
“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 customisable streaming experience possible, with a broad selection of premium content available at their fingertips.”
In line with the company’s previous deal, Amazon and NFL will also work together on additional NFL content and enhanced fan viewing experiences around Thursday Night Football.
Insider Insight: The NFL and Amazon first partnered to distribute Thursday Night Football in 2017 and since then both companies have blossomed through the deal. Amazon’s new deal which includes an exclusive regular season game is huge for the company and showcases how streaming services are putting pressure on other broadcasters when it comes to collecting sporting rights.
