Amazon Prime averaged 13 million viewers for the first live broadcast of “Thursday Night Football,” according to Nielsen figures released by the tech giant a week after the game.
The Sept. 15 average game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Los Angeles Chargers topped 8.84 million viewers on the NFL Network compared to the same week in 2021, according to Amazon data. Amazon added that the telecast was the most-watched program that night. Second place was “Young Sheldon” on CBS, with 3.5 million viewers.
Amazon is the first streaming service to own exclusive rights to the NFL’s package of games, in a deal that will cost the tech giant about $1 billion annually through 2033. The company partnered with Nielsen in August to track viewership data.
Amazon previously said it saw record record record record recordings for Prime in the three-hour game period., outpacing new subscriber additions on Prime Day, Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Amazon Prime has about 200 million subscribers worldwide.
“By all reports, Thursday night on Prime Video was a resounding success,” Jay Marin, Amazon’s global head of sports, wrote Monday night in a note to employees.
The company reported that the average age of the audience was six years younger than a typical linear NFL audience, 47 years old versus 53. The stream also reportedly has been rated 18% higher than any other NFL television broadcast so far this season.
Amazon also partnered with DirecTV in a multi-year deal for the satellite TV provider to stream Thursday night games in more than 300,000 bars, restaurants, hotels and casinos. Nielsen data covers streams across all platforms.
Amazon Game Streaming provides viewers with the company’s so-called next-generation statistics, as well as play-by-play style from former “Sunday Night Football” broadcaster Al Michaels and college soccer analyst Kirk Herbstreit. Fans can pay $14.99 for a full Amazon Prime subscription or $8.99 for a Prime Video game show subscription.
