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For those who thought Amazon Prime Video was going to provide your Dad’s version of NFL coverage, think again.
Amazon has hired the sports-comedy team “Dude Perfect” to create an alternate stream of “Thursday Night Football,” according to the Wall Street Journal.
It could be a smart strategy by the tech giant, which is paying $1 billion annually for exclusive rights to TNF through 2033.
With their 58 million subscribers on YouTube, Dude Perfect could attract younger viewers who are less interested in live sports.
For those into more traditional X’s and O’s coverage, the main game stream will have the venerable Al Michaels as play-by-play announcer, ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit as analyst, and Kaylee Hartung as sideline reporter.
The fun-loving team from Dude Perfect will offer simultaneous streams during multiple games this season. The plan is for them to perform dunks, stunts and tricks from their headquarters studio in Frisco, Texas.
Marie Donoghue, Amazon’s vice president of global sports video, told WSJ: “This will be an opportunity for families to watch together. Dude Perfect is young, fun and interactive.”
But Dude Perfect won’t be the only alternate telecast offered to viewers by Amazon as it seeks to differentiate itself from traditional NFL partners like CBS Sports, NBC Sports, Fox Sports, and ESPN:
- Amazon may launch an alternate “Quarterbacks Only” stream of TNF, said sources. Former New Orleans Saints QB and NBC analyst Drew Brees could be one of the featured analysts.
- Amazon also wants rising star Pat McAfee to stage his own “McAfeeCast” of TNF. But McAfee is so busy with his own show and WWE he might not be able to do it.
- Amazon is also planning a simultaneous Spanish-language telecast of TNF.
Amazon has been busy on the talent front, hiring Fox Sports’s Charissa Thompson as host of its on-location studio show, and Richard Sherman, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Tony Gonzalez, Aqib Talib, and Andrew Whitworth as analysts.
