What the Amazon/NFL Deal Means for New Hollywood

Are you ready for some football – on Amazon Prime? 

History was made with the NFL’s Thursday Night Football (TNF) game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Los Angeles Chargers on September 15. The NFL officially joined the streaming era through a $13 billion deal with Amazon in which TNF games air on Amazon Prime. Here's what this moment means:

1. This is another victory for the New Hollywood streaming companies.

2022 has been a challenging year for New Hollywood, with leaders such as Netflix taking a hit in their stock valuations amid a slowdown in subscriber numbers. But New Hollywood is still the future of entertainment. The NFL is a highly coveted brand for any carrier.

NFL games are the most-watched content on television. Sunday Night Football and TNF are the Top 2 most popular shows based on 2021-22 ratings. Amazon has told advertisers that it expects to see nightly viewership of about 12.5 million people for its inaugural season. 

2. Content drives commerce.

Amazon is banking on the expectation that TNF will attract more people to sign up for Amazon Prime, which viewers will need to join in order to watch the content. Amazon Prime counts 200 million members globally. And Prime is a cash cow. Becoming a Prime member costs $139 annually. Amazon Prime sales generated an estimated $30 billion in revenue in 2021. Each Prime member spends about $1,400 per year, while the non-Prime subscribers spend $600. 

3. First-party data wins.

Amazon will use first-party data to sell targeted ads to help drive revenue for the games. This is huge. Right now, third-party audience data is withering away thanks to Apple’s and Google’s privacy measures.

Businesses that figure out how to monetize first-party data (the data a business collects directly from audiences) enjoy an enormous advantage. Amazon has already become the third biggest ad platform in the world (behind Google and Meta) by using first-party data to sell targeted ads. 

4. New Hollywood is getting measured by real metrics.

Meaningful metrics to measure the popularity of New Hollywood programming are still hard to come by. Those days are ending because advertisers are not going to play ball without credible audience measurement data. 

Nielsen will measure NFL ratings on Amazon, which could open the door for other streaming platforms to partner with Nielsen, especially as Netflix and its competitors launch advertising tiers. 

5. How fans benefit remains unclear.

Certainly, people who are already Amazon Prime members will get another perk. But if you're not a Prime member, you'll have to pay up now. At the same time, Amazon promises alternative ways to watch Thursday Night Football, including Dude Perfect, a popular trick-shot comedy group.

Amazon Fire TV and Alexa are bringing new features to NFL fans as well, such as trivia and real-time access to statistics (which should appeal to Fantasy Football devotees). Ultimately, those Nielsen ratings will reveal how fans feel about this new direction.

Bottom Line: Amazon and the NFL are two powerful brands shaping the future of sports entertainment.