Amazon’s Strategy to Dominate Black Friday Through Football

Football, family, tradition, and turkey were a winning combination on Thanksgiving Day. Amazon Prime Video is taking that sentiment to heart by turning the day after Thanksgiving into a new tradition on the sports calendar.

In their second year airing a Black Friday game, Prime executives are going all out with a “go big” approach. Senior coordinating producer at Prime, Spoon Daftary, explains, “We’re trying to embrace this as truly a new holiday. Yes, we’re going to talk about the game. But we’re really wrapping our arms around the idea that this is a new holiday for football. We want to celebrate that.”

But it’s not just football that Prime is focusing on. As part of Amazon’s massive deal to broadcast NBA games starting in the 2025–2026 season, they will also stream an NBA game on Black Friday in 2025. This effectively creates an NFL/NBA doubleheader on the year’s biggest shopping day.

With the NFL Commissioner, Roger Goodell, setting up the Super Bowl champion Chiefs against the Raiders on Nov. 29, it’s a match that promises to draw big viewership. The Chiefs, led by Patrick Mahomes, have overtaken the Cowboys as America’s Team in terms of TV ratings. Given the strong average viewership of 14.31 million for Thursday Night Football this season, it’s expected that the Raiders-Chiefs game will surpass the 9.61 million viewers from last year’s inaugural Black Friday game between the Jets and Dolphins.

To make the game day experience even more exciting, Prime has ambitious production plans in place. They are setting up an expansive outdoor set outside Arrowhead Stadium for pre- and post-game studio shows with prominent personalities like Charissa Thompson, Tony Gonzalez, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Richard Sherman, Taylor Rooks, and Albert Breer. There will also be live entertainment from Marshawn Lynch’s traveling show and comedian Nikki Glaser adding her comedic touch to the pregame show.

To involve viewers in the festivities, Prime is offering special deals during the game across various product categories, custom NFL apparel designed by Amazon creators, and special promotions tied to Kansas City’s famous barbecue. All this while making the game accessible to anyone with an Amazon account, without the need for a Prime membership.

This move by Prime to turn Black Friday into a celebration of football, family, food, and shopping is still in its early stages, but if viewership exceeds expectations this season, it could become a new official sports holiday. So, get ready to enjoy watching top-notch NFL and NBA games from the comfort of your couch while scoring some great deals – all thanks to Amazon Prime Video.