Football fans looking for a break from the holiday shopping rush will have some NFL action to watch next year as the league and Amazon announced plans for the first-ever “Black Friday” game.
Amazon will exclusively stream a game on Prime Video the day after Thanksgiving in 2023, adding another day of football to a holiday weekend already packed with games. It’s the latest addition to Amazon’s growing sports streaming catalog.
The game is expected to kick off at noon PT and participating teams will be announced when next year’s schedule is released, the NFL said in a news release on Tuesday.
“Black Friday is the unofficial start of the holiday season, and we’re thrilled to kick it off with a gift for football fans across the country with this new game,” said Jay Marine, global head of sports at Prime Video.
Prime Video became the first streaming service to serve as exclusive home to the NFL’s “Thursday Night Football” with an 11-season deal that started this year. Through five games, “TNF” is averaging 10.8 million viewers according to Nielsen Media Research.
Amazon reported the “biggest three hours for U.S. Prime signups ever” during the first game. Boosting signups for Prime is key for Amazon as the membership program is a crucial part of its business. Surveys have shown that Prime members spend considerably more than non-Prime members on Amazon.com.