Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes (15) is sacked by Los Angeles Chargers linebacker Drue Tranquill (49) in the first quarter at Arrowhead Stadium on Thursday, Sept. 15, 2022, in Kansas City, Missouri.
Tammy Ljungblad | Tribune News Service | Getty Images
Amazon Prime averaged 13 million viewers for its debut live stream of “Thursday Night Football,” according to Nielsen figures released by the tech giant a week after the game.
The average for the Sept. 15 matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and Los Angeles Chargers surpassed the viewership of 8.84 million on the NFL Network from the same week in 2021, according to data released by Amazon. The stream was the most-watched program of the night, the Amazon release added. No. 2 was CBS’ “Young Sheldon,” with 3.5 million viewers.
Amazon is the first streaming service to hold exclusive rights to a package of NFL games, in a deal that will cost the tech giant about $1 billion a year through 2033. The company partnered with Nielsen in August to track the audience data.
Amazon also previously said that it saw record Prime signups in the three-hour period of the game, beating the new subscriber additions on Prime Day, Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Amazon Prime has around 200 million subscribers worldwide.
“By every measure, Thursday Night Football on Prime Video was a resounding success,” Jay Marine, global head of Amazon’s sports division, wrote late Monday in a memo to staff.
The company reported that the average age of the audience was six years younger than the typical linear NFL audience, at 47 years old versus 53 years old. The stream was also reportedly rated 18% higher than any other NFL telecast thus far this season.
Amazon also partnered with DirecTV in a multiyear agreement for the satellite TV provider to air Thursday night games in more than 300,000 bars, restaurants, hotels and casinos. Nielsen’s data spans across streams on all platforms.
Amazon’s game stream provides viewers with the company’s so-called next-generation statistics as well as the play-by-play stylings of former “Sunday Night Football” announcer Al Michaels and college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit. Fans can pay $14.99 for a full Amazon Prime subscription or $8.99 for a Prime Video subscription to view the games.
