Amazon to Share One NFL Wild-Card Game with CBS

Amazon is expanding its streaming deal with the NFL to include one playoff game, The Wall Street Journal reported on Oct. 13.

The Jan. 10, 2021 game will be part of the expanded wild-card round playoff games that are new to the NFL’s postseason format. Amazon Prime Video will share the game with ViacomCBS Inc., which will broadcast it on CBS and Nickelodeon and stream it online. 

CBS reportedly paid around $70 million for the game. NBCUniversal bought up the second new wild-card game for a reported $75 million and will telecast it as well as stream it on Peacock. 

Amazon already has the rights to stream 11 “Thursday Night Football” games per season, and shares them with Fox — its first of 2020, the fourth year of the deal, aired on Oct. 8.

The e-commerce giant also has exclusive rights to one game in the second half of the season, the date of which has yet to be announced. 

Amazon offers alternate commentary teams through Prime Video and Twitch, as well as Fox’s main broadcast. New features this year include a “Scout’s Feed,” which has former NFL scouts Bucky Brooks and Daniel Jeremiah along with seasoned sports host Joy Taylor as commentators. 

Prime Video subscribers can also use Amazon’s “X-Ray” technology that offers on-demand replays as well as stats specific to any given play, including time to throw, running speeds and trivia.

In April, Amazon renewed its “Thursday Night Football” deal, extending it through 2022 for more than $70 million annually. A source told the Journal that terms for the playoff game “are significantly higher than the per-game range Amazon is paying for regular season matches.”