Amazon Nabs NFL Playoff Game Streaming Deal, to Be Shared With ViacomCBS

Amazon, for the first time, will expand its NFL streaming game-plan to the league’s postseason.

The ecommerce giant has acquired rights to the NFL’s Jan. 10 wildcard playoff game, one of two added by the league for the 2020 season, an NFL rep confirmed. Amazon will stream the game worldwide on Prime Video and Twitch, while ViacomCBS will carry the game on CBS and Nickelodeon in the U.S. (Amazon declined to comment.) The news was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.

Amazon will take CBS’s feed of the wildcard game, similar to its arrangement with Fox for its batch of regular-season “Thursday Night Football” games. CBS Sports also will stream the Jan. 10 game on its digital properties.

The move by Amazon to expand its NFL lineup to the postseason reflects its bullishness on the value of bringing American football to its Prime and Twitch platforms across the globe — and may indicate Amazon’s willingness to bid more aggressively for future top-flight sports broadcast rights. ESPN deal for “Monday Night Football” runs through the 2021 season, while the NFL’s other TV and streaming deals run through 2022.

It’s the fourth year that Amazon is live-streaming “TNF,” kicking off its coverage on Oct. 8. Amazon earlier this year clinched a three-year extension on the “TNF” digital games package (through 2022), scoring an additional single exclusive late-season NFL game for each season. Amazon has rights to 11 “Thursday Night Football” games, plus the yet-to-be-announced Saturday game in November or December.

For the 2020 NFL season, Amazon has added new features and programming including an additional “Scout’s Feed” audio option for the “TNF” games featuring commentary from podcasters and former NFL scouts Bucky Brooks and Daniel Jeremiah alongside sports podcast, radio, and TV host Joy Taylor.

Amazon also added on-demand replays on Prime Video, using the X-Ray feature available on Fire TV, Android, and iOS devices, as well as additional NFL shows on Twitch.

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