It’s safe to say that “Thursday Night Football” is already a huge win for Amazon.
The Kansas City Chiefs and Los Angeles Chargers squared off in the first-ever NFL regular season broadcast on Amazon last Thursday. In a marquee matchup featuring two of the game’s elite young quarterbacks, Patrick Mahomes helped the Chiefs to a 27-24 victory.
According to a report from Andrew Marchand of the New York Post, Amazon sports boss Jay Marine informed staff members that last week’s Chiefs-Chargers game garnered the most sign-ups in the in the technology company’s history.
In a follow-up tweet, Marchand added that the numbers for the Chiefs-Chargers game “exceeded Amazon’s expectations.”
Amazon signed longtime NBC commentator and former “Sunday Night Football” play-by-play man Al Michaels to head the TNF broadcast. ESPN college football host Kirk Herbstreit was hired to serve as the color commentator in the broadcast booth with Michaels.
Michaels left NBC following the expiration of his contract. Mike Tirico, who left ESPN for NBC in 2016, is now the lead voice for “Sunday Night Football.” Cris Collinsworth remains the color commentator for the SNF program.
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In 2021, the NFL signed new television contracts with FOX, NBC and CBS. Amazon joined the party and will pay the league $1 billion annually to broadcast Thursday night games on Prime Video. FOX previously held the TNF package from 2018 to 2021, taking it over for CBS who ran it from 2014 to 2017.
Not only did Michaels switch programs, but the head FOX NFL commentary duo of Troy Aikman and Joe Buck left the network to join ESPN’s “Monday Night Football” program. Kevin Burkhardt and former Pro Bowl tight end Greg Olsen took over as FOX’s new No. 1 team.
The next “Thursday Night Football” game will see the Pittsburgh Steelers visit the AFC North rival Cleveland Browns at FirstEnergy Stadium. Both clubs are coming off tough 1-1 losses and are in a three-way tie with the Baltimore Ravens for first in the AFC North.
