Bloomberg reported on Wednesday that Amazon has won the rights to livestream 10 Thursday night National Football League games this season. The one year deal will see Amazon offering the games as part of their Amazon Prime video streaming package.
The e-commerce giant paid $50 million for the one-year deal, according to a person familiar with the agreement. An Amazon spokesman Tuesday confirmed the company gained the streaming rights to the games, but declined to comment further.
Amazon takes over the streaming rights from Twitter, which offered the games via an Apple TV app, and via the Twitter service itself. Amazon offers Prime Video app apps for iOS devices, but has not yet released one for use on the Apple TV. Hopefully, this means the service will soon release an app for Apple’s set top box.
Traditional Broadcasts to Continue
The one year deal is all part of the NFL’s streaming strategy to take them to 2021, when the league’s deals with the traditional broadcast networks begin to expire. When that happens, the NFL is expected to negotiate longer term contracts with Internet streaming services, alongside the usual negotiations with the network folks.
NFL Thursday Night Football games will continue to be broadcast on traditional TV by the NFL Network, CBS, and NBC.
This is the latest move by Amazon to enhance its Prime Video service, which is part of the online merchant’s annual $99 Amazon Prime subscription, which also offers free delivery, streaming music, and more. The company also offers Prime Video as a standalone $8.99 monthly subscription.
