Another NFL playoff game will be a streaming exclusive next year, only this time, fans will need to have an Amazon Prime account to catch the action.
Multiple reports say Amazon will stream its first NFL playoff game in the 2024–25 season, following Peacock’s wildly successful airing of the wild card game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Miami Dolphins. Some 23 million people watched that game.
The news comes on the heels of an announcement by Disney’s ESPN, Fox, and Warner Bros. Discovery of plans to launch a new sports streaming service. And it follows record viewership numbers for Amazon’s Thursday night football coverage. The company says overall viewership was up 24% this year.
Amazon actually had the opportunity to air the Chiefs-Dolphins wild card game but passed on the opportunity when it was initially offered. The Wall Street Journal reports NBCUniversal had hoped to keep the rights to the streaming-only playoff game (for which it paid a reported $110 million this year), but Amazon once again had right of first refusal, as part of its Thursday night football agreement with the league.
In the three days leading up to the January matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Miami Dolphins, Peacock saw an estimated 2.8 million sign-ups from new customers, according to data from analytics firm Antenna. That’s the single biggest subscriber acquisition moment the firm has ever seen.
While some fans were not happy at the time after being forced to add another subscription streaming service if they wanted to watch the game, the NFL certainly was thrilled with the game’s viewership numbers—and indicated it’s open to more streaming exclusives moving forward.
“We couldn’t be prouder of our partnership with Peacock and are thrilled with the results of the first-ever exclusively livestreamed NFL playoff game,” NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement last month. “To best serve our fans, we need to ensure games are available to them as their viewing habits change, and this includes digital distribution as we continue to help shape the future of the sports and entertainment industry.”
