Amazon take huge step forward in $15bn NFL streaming war by severing ties with broadcast partner

Prime Video is set to produce Thursday Night Football in-house for the first time in 2026.

The Amazon streaming service took over exclusive rights to the primetime package four years ago, and previously relied on NBC Sports to produce weekly games.

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According to a report by Austin Karp of the Sports Business Journal, Prime Video is now ‘expanding its own production capabilities’ and ending its reliance on NBC.

In a piece breaking down a new multiyear deal between NBCU and YouTube, Karp wrote: NBC has done such sports production for a number of years now for outlets outside its own walls, including Thursday Night Football.

“However, with Prime Video expanding its own production capabilities, that deal is coming to an end.”

According to Awful Announcing, when the streamer began broadcasting Thursday Night Football in 2022, they agreed a partnership with NBC Sports to handle production.

That included securing Fred Gaudelli, the longtime executive producer of Sunday Night Football, to lead their production.

Respected media insider Andrew Marchard reported at the time that the two parties signed a three-year agreement, with Amazon having an option to extend to five years.

Given Prime Video is entering its fifth year as the broadcaster of Thursday Night Football in 2026, a decision was going to be made sooner rather than later.

It appears the streamer will go in-house, rather than trying to renew a deal with NBC, or find a new partner for 2027.

Amazon could be big player in NFL rights battle

The landscape of NFL broadcasting has shifted in recent years, with traditional networks at risk of losing out to streamers.

As it stands, the league is midway through an 11-year media rights deal said to be worth more than $10 billion annually.

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The deal, though, contains an opt-out after the 2029-30 season, and the NFL has been arguing that its rights are undervalued.

Attempts have been made to re-negotiate its contracts early, and analysis suggests the value of any new deal could top $15bn per year.

Such a figure would drain money out of the market for other sports rights, and leave traditional TV networks struggling to match the spending power of new streamers like Amazon, Netflix and even YouTube.

Prime Video analyst defends streaming services

Questions would also be raised over the need to subscribe to more services beyond basic cable, should NFL rights be further split in future.

The 2026 season will feature 10 different streaming platforms that fans need to access, meaning the costs to watch every game will max out at close to $1,000.

Despite the rising cost, Andrew Whitworth, one of the faces of Prime Video’s NFL coverage, has defended the new age of streaming services.

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“I get it. I get that fans are trying to figure out the landscape of how they want to watch this or that or anything else,” Whitworth told Fox News Digital in June.

“It’s always the most complicated thing ever when I’m like, ‘Oh, I heard I should watch this show.’ And I’m like, ‘Well, where is that on?’

“And so it’s that journey you go on to figure out what service has this TV show that you want to watch that somebody told you about or whatever.

“I think that’s just kind of where this stuff is at this time. I don’t think I have a great answer for what a fan or somebody should do other than that’s kind of the world we live in.

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“Sports is right along with where entertainment is, and right now a lot of that is you go to these specific places to watch these specific things.

“I think it’s just kind of the world we’re in right now. I think it’s all starting to figure itself out. And I’m sure, as with anything else in the world, we’ll find ways to simplify it and make it easier.

“But right now it feels like everyone’s establishing themselves and where they fit in the industry. Then I think, over time, we’ll start to see the process get simpler.”