Why the NFL Now Has a 'Black Friday' Game – The Raiders vs. Chiefs Tradition
The NFL is now marking its second annual "Black Friday" game, a special tradition that started last season, exclusively streamed on Amazon Prime Video. This game, taking place the day after Thanksgiving, has sparked curiosity among fans. Why is there a football game on this particular Friday, and how did this tradition come to be?
To understand this, you first need to know that the NFL has long been associated with Thanksgiving, with games on the holiday itself. However, Amazon, which secured exclusive rights to the NFL’s Thursday Night Football (TNF) package in 2022 for a whopping $1 billion, wanted a bigger slice of the Thanksgiving weekend pie. Amazon had no rights to broadcast the Thanksgiving games, which were held by CBS, NBC, and Fox under separate television contracts. This meant Amazon missed out on a prime opportunity to tap into the large audience Thanksgiving games typically attract.
Also Read:- Brighton vs Southampton: Seagulls Aim to Soar, Saints Fight to Survive
- AFLW Grand Final 2024: A Clash of Titans Under the Lights
This led to Amazon’s push to create a new tradition—a game on the Friday after Thanksgiving. By scheduling a game on Black Friday, Amazon linked the massive shopping event with the excitement of a live NFL game, capitalizing on the attention people give to the day’s deals. In 2023, Amazon paid a hefty sum—$100 million—to the NFL to secure the rights to this game. The idea behind this hefty investment was simple: if they could get millions of viewers to watch, Amazon would likely make back its money, especially since this year’s Black Friday game between the Las Vegas Raiders and Kansas City Chiefs is being streamed for free to anyone, even those without an Amazon Prime membership.
This move marks uncharted territory for the NFL, which has traditionally avoided Friday games, with a few exceptions. While games on Christmas Eve or New Year's Eve have been part of the NFL calendar since 1999, and the league has occasionally aired Friday games on holidays, like the opening weekend in Brazil, the Friday after Thanksgiving is a new concept. The last time the NFL played a regular Friday game not tied to a holiday was in 1986, with a game just days before Christmas. Back in the 1960s, the NFL's predecessor, the AFL, did have Friday games, including one on the Friday before Thanksgiving in 1964.
Now, the Raiders (2-9) face the Chiefs (10-1) in a matchup that, while not competitive on paper, will draw significant attention as part of this new tradition. With a 3 p.m. ET kickoff and exclusive streaming on Prime Video, the Black Friday game is set to become a regular feature on the NFL schedule. And with a game being streamed for free, it allows millions of fans, even those not subscribed to Amazon Prime, to enjoy the matchup and experience this new football tradition firsthand. In the coming years, as more and more fans tune in, this Friday game could easily become as much a part of the holiday weekend as the Thanksgiving Day games themselves.
Read More:
0 Comments