Amazon Teams Up With NBA for 2025 Black Friday Line-Up
By Movieguide® Contributor
Amazon will dive deeper into the world of live sports, with plans to add an NBA game to their usual NFL Black Friday programming.
“After debuting its Black Friday NFL coverage last November, Amazon is leaning into the ritual, announcing it will add an NBA game on the day starting in 2025,” Deadline reported.
The outlet explained that, while Amazon has access to NFL rights through 2032, the Black Friday games have been scheduled out “one by one.” Now that Amazon has secured the rights to NBA games, basketball is being added to the mix.
“The NBA deal, which takes effect during the 2025-26 season, will give Prime Video 66 regular season games, including an opening-week doubleheader and the in-season tournament’s semifinal and final rounds,” Deadline wrote. “Games will be distributed in the U.S. and globally, with an expanded package of games in territories including Mexico, Brazil, France, Italy, Spain, Germany, the UK and Ireland.”
NBC Sports pointed out that, since the NFL’s game will be aired before the NBA games, they’ll be “handing a potentially massive audience” over to the NBA on Black Friday.
“The NFL might want something from Amazon in exchange for boosting NBA viewership,” the outlet hypothesized. “One, because it’s arguably fair to make the request, under the circumstances. And, two, because the NFL pretty much always wants something.”
Variety noted that Amazon’s deals with the NFL and NBA are “unique” when it comes to sports presentation.
“Amazon will have one main goal next year — to sell as many goods as it can as the holiday season gets into gear,” the outlet wrote. “But it will have enlisted two separate major sports leagues — which often like to vie with one another for the biggest audiences — to help spark the consumer behavior.”
Amazon isn’t the only streaming service that has started to get more involved in live sports. Netflix recently tried out that type of programming with a golf tournament.
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