Amazon Finds NFL Silver Linings Despite Missing Out on Thanksgiving

Amazon Prime Video won’t get to participate in the NFL’s Thanksgiving Day tripleheader, despite paying $1 billion annually for the league’s Thursday night package. But the streamer does stand to benefit from some scheduling quirks around Turkey Day and the end of the regular season.

After Amazon gets its second go at a Black Friday game (Raiders-Chiefs at 3 p.m. ET on Prime Video), the tech giant will close out its third season exclusively streaming the NFL—which is already on record pace—with a strong slate of December games.

While CBS gets Bears-Lions to kick off the Thanksgiving Day action, and NBC airs Dolphins-Packers for the nightcap, Amazon will stream this season’s Green Bay–Detroit sequel in Week 13, as the NFC North rivals will take part in the rare, but not unprecedented, move of playing in consecutive Thursday games late in the season. (Last year, the Cowboys were featured on Thursday Night Football the week after Thanksgiving.)

Earlier this month, Lions-Packers drew a Week 9–high 24.21 million viewers on Fox, as Detroit won 24–14 in Green Bay. The Lions are tied with the Chiefs for the best record in the league at 10–1, but the Packers enter Thanksgiving just two games back, with playoff ambitions of their own.

Through 11 weeks, TNF is averaging 13.25 million viewers on Prime Video, according to Nielsen ratings, which is up 8% from the 2023 season-to-date average, and up 12% compared to last year’s full-season figure.

Flexing Its Muscle

In Week 16, Amazon will broadcast Broncos-Chargers, thanks to the NFL flexing a game out of TNF for the first time. The matchup of AFC West rivals with winning records was substituted in for the previously scheduled Browns-Bengals game, which figures to not have playoff implications as both AFC North teams are currently several games under .500.

Also in December, Amazon will get Rams-49ers and Seahawks-Bears, which should both feature at least one team still in postseason contention.