Prime Video, DIRECTV Partner to Bring ‘Thursday Night Football’ to Bars, Restaurants
DIRECTV first played host to the NFL Sunday Ticket in 1994, during the out-of-market package’s first season in the air, and despite the fact that its rights to broadcast the bulk of the wildly popular football package expire at the end of the upcoming season, the satellite company is staying in the NFL business. After being rumored earlier this month, on Tuesday, DIRECTV officially announced that it has reached a multi-year deal with Amazon to provide the otherwise streaming-exclusive “Thursday Night Football” slate of games to over 300,000 sports bars, restaurants, hotel lounges, casinos and sports books, retail shops, and many other venues nationwide.
Beginning this season, “Thursday Night Football” will air exclusively on Prime Video, and as many bars and restaurants don’t traditionally carry streaming services for a variety of reasons, DIRECTV for BUSINESS will fill in the gap. Because so many establishments are used to tuning to DIRECTV for NFL games thanks to the Sunday Ticket, this should be a seamless fit for all involved. DIRECTV is also hoping to continue providing Sunday Ticket to these same businesses once the NFL announces who will take over bringing the package to customers’ homes. The league’s commissioner Roger Goodell has said that he believes that the package will end up on a streaming service and that it is likely to be announced this call.
“The sports media landscape continues to evolve rapidly, and the focus on delivering a great experience to our entire range of customers must remain at the center of that evolution,” DIRECTV’s chief content officer Rob Thun said. “This agreement between Amazon and DIRECTV for Business comes at an important time when more streaming companies are obtaining exclusive rights to marquee sports programming and fans want to cheer on their teams at home and while out at bars, restaurants and other businesses with friends, family and coworkers.”
Prime Video’s “TNF” kicks off this week on Aug. 25 with a preseason matchup between the San Francisco 49ers and the Houston Texans, and DIRECTV for BUSINESS will make that game available in chain and neighborhood businesses across the country. The regular season slate for “Thursday Night Football” will kick off in Week 2 on Sept. 15 as the Los Angeles Chargers visit the defending AFC West champion Kansas City Chiefs.
2022 “Thursday Night Football” Schedule Available on Prime Video and DIRECTV for BUSINESS
Pregame coverage begins at 7 p.m. ET and. Kickoff is at 8:15 p.m. ET.
- Preseason Week 3 | Aug. 25: San Francisco 49ers at Houston Texans
- Week 2 | Sept. 15: Los Angeles Chargers at Kansas City Chiefs
- Week 3 | Sept. 22: Pittsburgh Steelers at Cleveland Browns
- Week 4 | Sept. 29: Miami Dolphins at Cincinnati Bengals
- Week 5 | Oct. 6: Indianapolis Colts at Denver Broncos
- Week 6 | Oct. 13: Washington Commanders at Chicago Bears
- Week 7 | Oct. 20: New Orleans Saints at Arizona Cardinals
- Week 8 | Oct. 27: Baltimore Ravens at Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Week 9 | Nov. 3: Philadelphia Eagles at Houston Texans
- Week 10 | Nov. 10: Atlanta Falcons at Carolina Panthers
- Week 11 | Nov. 17: Tennessee Titans at Green Bay Packers
- Week 13 | Dec. 1: Buffalo Bills at New England Patriots
- Week 14 | Dec. 8: Las Vegas Raiders at Los Angeles Rams
- Week 15 | Dec. 15: San Francisco 49ers at Seattle Seahawks
- Week 16 | Dec. 22: Jacksonville Jaguars at New York Jets
- Week 17 | Dec. 29: Dallas Cowboys at Tennessee Titans
Any current DIRECTV for BUSINESS customers subscribing to Business Entertainment, Business Xtra, Commercial Entertainment, Commercial Xtra, Commercial Choice PLUS, and the Spanish-language Commercial Mas Ultra will automatically receive this new Prime Video TNF feed for no additional cost. The new Prime Video content will reside on DIRECTV channel 9526 adjacent to other major sports streaming services and events.
Amazon Prime Video
Amazon Prime Video is a subscription video streaming service that includes on-demand access to 10,000+ movies, TV shows, and Prime Originals like “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power,” “Jack Ryan,” “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” “The Boys,” and more. Subscribers can also add third-party services like Max, Showtime, STARZ, and dozens more with Amazon Prime Video Channels. Prime Video also offers exclusive live access to NFL Thursday Night Football.