In the fourth year of its Thursday Night Football relationship with the NFL, Amazon is expanding its content ambitions beyond gameday.
Prime Video pregame show NFL Next, hosted by NFL Network’s Kay Adams, moves to Tuesday starting this week. Meanwhile, Amazon-owned Twitch will have its own content lineup, including an interactive program on Monday afternoons and a Wednesday evening show focused on archival films.
During TNF games, Twitch users will have access to the NFL Next Live alternative feed, featuring Andrew Hawkins and Cari Champion and including appearances from Broncos linebacker Von Miller. Amazon’s first game comes this Thursday as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Chicago Bears face off.
Other in-game audio options include the return of Hannah Storm and Andrea Kremer, as well as a new “Scout’s Feed” option highlighting insights from former NFL scouts Bucky Brooks and Daniel Jeremiah.
“We’re unique in that we don’t think a one-size-fits-all approach is best,” said Charlie Neiman, Prime Video’s head of sports partnerships. “We think optionality and personalization is important.” He highlighted Twitch’s “lean-in interactive component versus the big-screen experience on Prime Video.”
Those viewing on Prime Video this year will also have access to expanded X-Ray features, which displays live information such as play-by-play data and stats alongside the broadcast. New this year will be on-demand replays of key moments.
“This is a critical time for us to do something special for people that are stuck at home and don’t have the option to go out and watch in the bar,” said Brandon Love, a senior product manager on the X-Ray team. “We think this is the time we go big for customers so they have something to talk about.”
Later this season, Amazon will exclusively air an NFL game, and while production details remain scarce, Neiman said that Amazon will offer unique elements as well as the optionality it has become known for.
TNF digital streams across all platforms—Amazon, NFL, Fox and Verizon—averaged over one million viewers per minute in 2019, up 43 percent year-over-year.
