Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes (15) is released by Los Angeles Chargers linebacker Drue Tranquill (49) in the first quarter on Thursday, September 15, 2022 at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri.
Tammy Ljungblad | Tribune News Service | Getty Images
Amazon Prime averaged 13 million viewers for its first live stream of “Thursday Night Football,” according to Nielsen figures released by the tech giant a week after the game.
The average for the September 15 matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Los Angeles Chargers surpassed the 8.84 million viewership on the NFL Network for the same week in 2021, according to data released by Amazon. The stream was the most-watched program of the night , added the Amazon publication. CBS’ “Young Sheldon” came in second with 3.5 million viewers.
Amazon is the first streaming service to own exclusive rights to a bundle 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 viewership data.
Amazon also previously said it saw record Prime signups in the game’s three-hour span, surpassing subscriber additions on Prime Day, Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Amazon Prime has around 200 million subscribers worldwide.
“Thursday Night Football on Prime Video was a hit by every measure,” Jay Marine, Amazon’s global head of sports, wrote in a memo to employees late Monday.
The company reported that the median age of the audience was 47 versus 53, six years younger than the typical linear NFL audience. The stream has reportedly been rated 18% higher than any other NFL show so far this season.
Amazon has also partnered with DirecTV in a multi-year agreement to allow the satellite TV provider to air Thursday night games in more than 300,000 bars, restaurants, hotels and casinos. Nielsen data spans streams across all platforms.
Amazon’s game stream offers viewers the company’s so-called next-generation stats, as well as play-by-play styles from 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 watch the games.