DraftKings, Little Caesars join as sponsors for Amazon’s ‘Thursday Night Football’ lineup

• Sports betting company DraftKings and pizza chain Little Caesars have signed on as sponsors for “Thursday Night Football” on Amazon Prime Video, according to a press release.
• Little Caesars will be the presenting sponsor of the “TNF Tonight” pregame show and will showcase a spot on player preparation for the game. Coined the “PizzaPizzaPregame,” fans can also scan a QR code to order pizza and earn perks.
• DraftKings is the exclusive pre-game and in-game odds provider and will provide odds for the “TNF Predictions” segment and offer same-game parlays in its mobile app for fans to bet on. “Thursday Night Football” on Amazon Prime Video, which premieres on Sept. 15, marks the first time an exclusive, season-long NFL broadcast package will be on a streaming service. 

As the NFL begins to embrace streaming, advertisers have been quick to follow. E-commerce behemoth Amazon Prime seemingly wants a piece of the pie, too, despite Prime Video typically boasting about its ad-free offerings. The NFL tie-in may help the platform gain more loyalty and is one of many shakeups NFL advertising has seen this year.

The NFL programming arrives as Amazon’s advertising sales business has been growing and recently unseated TikTok for most engaging ads, according to a Kantar report. The e-commerce giant hopes streaming tech integrations will help lure brands to the platform and give it a leg up over other streaming video services. Despite Amazon’s most recent earnings report shows the sales growth rate for its ad business flattening at around 30%.

Little Caesars, which is the official pizza sponsor of the NFL, is incentivizing TNF viewers to get game-day ready by utilizing an on-screen QR code to make ordering pizza easy. Additionally, consumers can earn perks and will be entered to win big-ticket prizes. The pizza chain will also be advertising during “TNF Español,” the official Spanish language broadcast of the game, which will be available on Prime Video and Twitch.

DraftKings will have a mobile push as well, focusing on same-game parlays which will be available to eligible customers to bet on through the app. Additionally, the platform will provide the data for “TNF Predictions.” By urging fans to download an app or provide information via purchases, both DraftKings and Little Caesars have an opportunity to tap into increasingly valuable consumer data for a key target market — sports fans. 

“For fans, sponsors, and advertisers, TNF on Prime Video is the best of both worlds, combining the NFL experience we all love with the advantages of digital,” said Danielle Carney, head of NFL sales for Amazon Ads in a press statement. “The TNF digital broadcast gives brands new ways to connect with fans at scale through interactive features, alternate feeds, and unique activations.”

Prime Video’s agreement with the NFL is set to last 11 years and will include 15 regular-season games and one preseason game. Broadcasts will be made available on amazon.com and the Prime Video App and will begin Sept. 15 with the Los Angeles Chargers and the Kansas City Chiefs game. The games will also be broadcasted on the Amazon-owned platform Twitch, and on over-the-air stations in home markets of the team. 

As Amazon looks to bolster its new NFL lineup, it’s also integrating interactive elements to its streams with features like X-Ray and Next Gen Stats by Amazon Web Services. Nielsen also made a three-year pact with the e-commerce behemoth to measure coverage of the TNF program on Prime Video, Twitch and over-the-air channels — a notable agreement for the measurement platform that is looking to evolve its offerings.