Here’s how Amazon intends to make bank by broadcasting the first-ever NFL game this Black Friday
Amazon's $100 million bet on the NFL's first-ever Black Friday game is bound to pay off in a big way.
(L) Roger Goodell; (R) Jeff Bezos (via AP/BroBible)
For years, certain practices have cemented themselves in the form of customs during the festive season. On Thanksgiving weekend, turkey has always been a staple, but people look forward to Black Friday more than the actual festival itself.
This year, the day that signifies the beginning of the festivities and shopping in the run-up to Christmas will be special and historical as it will be the first time that an NFL game will be played on a Friday and it does not end there, Amazon’s Prime Video is set to be a part of history as it has the exclusive broadcasting rights to the game.
The New York Jets will play the Miami Dolphins on Friday, while the matchup was decided back in May with the hope that the game would be a huge success due to Aaron Rodgers playing against Tua Tagovailoa, but things have changed since then. Instead of Rodgers, it will be Tim Boyle, who will start for the Jets, but irrespective of that, the game is expected to amass a large viewership.
Jeff Bezos has made the ultimate business move by getting exclusive domain over football and shopping. Amazon’s decision to make the game easily accessible to anyone with a free account on their site will ensure that the number of viewers will exceed or at least equal the last year’s viewership of the Thanksgiving games which managed to tally nearly 42 million viewers for the Cowboys vs Giants game which became the most-watched regular season game of all time.
Amazon is turning this Black Friday to Bank Friday for its profits
The NFL has never held a game on Friday let alone Black Friday as it is a day synonymous with fans going on a spending spree. Due to this, the league has been reluctant to hold any games as it would attract lower viewership. In addition to this, the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961 does not allow any NFL games to be broadcast post 6 PM ET on Fridays and during Saturdays in the fall.
Congress enforced this rule in order to protect football at the collegiate and high school level from being negatively impacted due to NFL games being scheduled. This year was different for the NFL, firstly, they had 100 million reasons to hold a game on Black Friday, as that is the exact amount offered by Amazon to the league for the same. Secondly, the game will be at 3 PM ET, which means it does not go against any legislation.
Amazon benefits the most from this arrangement as the broadcast is bound to have a lot of commercials, most of which will be targeted advertisements. The ads will redirect the customers to the page of that particular product on Amazon. The customers who do click on them will be a part of Amazon’s customer database, as the company can keep targeting them after the game.
Amazon is paying $100 million to broadcast the NFL's first-ever Black Friday game.
— Joe Pompliano (@JoePompliano) November 22, 2023
But it's really a chess move to steal market share from brick-and-mortar stores and generate online sales.
Let me explain ?
Thanksgiving Day football has always been huge.
Last year's games… pic.twitter.com/7KGyH0ceNR
As per Nielsen’s metrics, TNF ratings alone have increased by 26% year-over-year. The games are now amassing an average of 12.8 million viewers. The Black Friday game could become an annual thing for the NFL. It will, of course, be determined upon the numbers that are recorded this Friday.
This marks the emergence of a new trend wherein large corporations such as Amazon and Apple are spending huge amounts on sporting events in order to efficiently advertise as it enables them to reach a larger audience to promote their products. Amazon had revealed that their entire advertising inventory was sold out for this month. While the company did not reveal how much it earned them, it has to be a huge figure.
Last year, e-commerce sales on Black Friday generated $9.12 billion, and Amazon’s Prime Day sale that was held in July alone generated $12.7 billion in the US. Irrespective of how many viewers log in to watch the game, Amazon has already won from a business perspective.
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Sumedh Joshi
(2254 Articles Published)