NFL Announces First Amazon ‘Thursday Night Football’ Matchup
During the first round of Thursday night’s NFL draft, the league announced the first football game to be played as part of Amazon’s new Thursday Night Football package.
The first game that will be played as part of the new TV deal between the NFL and Amazon will take place in Week 2 on Sept. 15, as the Chargers will travel to Arrowhead Stadium to take on the Chiefs in an AFC West divisional matchup.
Amazon made waves upon acquiring the exclusive rights to the NFL’s Thursday night football games in early 2021. The plan initially was for the deal to begin in 2023, but Amazon and the NFL instead elected to begin the deal in time for the fall 2022 football season.
Amazon will air 15 Thursday Night Football games per year through Prime Video to Amazon customers with a Prime membership. The games will also be televised in the home markets of the teams playing.
Amazon put together an all-star announcing crew, as play-by-play legend Al Michaels left NBC’s Sunday Night Football when his contract was up after last season and elected to join Amazon. ESPN’s top college football color analyst and longtime College Gameday host Kirk Herbstreit will join Michaels in the booth on Thursday nights with Amazon while continuing his college football coverage with ESPN.
While there has yet to be a sideline reporter formally announced, there have been rumblings that Kaylee Hartung of ABC News is Amazon’s top target. Hartung is a former ESPN reporter, and has worked with ABC since 2019.
The full 2022 NFL schedule will be announced on May 12.
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