If Amazon is trying to keep millions of people home on Black Friday to shop from its wares, it might have devised the best way to do it.
Three words: free live sports.
On Friday, Amazon’s Prime Video will broadcast 15 hours of sports, starting with the return of The Skins Game, a golf competition that last teed off in 2008, and ending with an NBA doubleheader filled with superstars, Bucks-Knicks and Mavericks-Lakers.
In between is an NFL game that will command the attention of people in these parts. The 8-3 Bears and the 8-3 Eagles – both first-place teams, the latter the defending Super Bowl champs – will square off before an audience of more than 240 countries and territories.
All of it will be available without a Prime Video subscription or a Prime membership. Free live sports.
“This is going to become a day of wonderful sports for everybody,” said former NFL quarterback and current Prime studio analyst Ryan Fitzpatrick. “It’s my favorite game of the year that we do because of all the interaction with the fans and the fun games and things we do that aren’t just specifically pointed at the Bears and Eagles.
“We’ll have plenty of that talk, but it’s a lot about celebrating the day. I think Amazon is pretty happy for you to be able to click on the TV and be able to go shopping on their site.”
Viewers of the Prime Video stream (Fox 32 will carry the feed locally) will be able to participate in interactive shoppable segments with their remote control. Fitzpatrick recalled during the first Black Friday broadcast two years ago, fellow analyst Richard Sherman, a big Harry Potter fan, unlocked a Harry Potter Lego set by completing a challenge.
“It has a lot of stuff that’s outside of the football game,” analyst Andrew Whitworth said of the broadcast, which will see the studio crew inside and outside Lincoln Financial Field. “It’s us having a good time with fans and creating that interactive experience out in the tailgate area. It’s giving them a chance to win some stuff and then also us to entertain people at home. It’s bigger than just what happens on the football field.”
Rest assured, the game will not be overlooked. The regular Prime crew of Al Michaels, Kirk Herbstreit and Kaylee Hartung will call it at 2 p.m. The game has a chance to continue an upward trend in viewership that saw the Black Friday game last year (Raiders-Chiefs, 13.51 million viewers) handily beat the inaugural game (Dolphins-Jets, 9.61 million).
“The NFL schedule-makers do an incredible job,” said Jared Stacey, Prime’s vice president of global live sports production. “This is the second straight year that we’ve had the defending Super Bowl champs at home on Black Friday. And we’ve all been waiting for the Bears to take that leap, and it’s so exciting to see what’s happened there. I think the schedule-makers thought that this was a really high-upside game, and it certainly has delivered on paper.”
Prime’s broadcasts have delivered, as well. The studio crew, which also includes host Charissa Thompson and analyst Tony Gonzalez, has developed great chemistry. And Michaels and Herbstreit, thought to be an odd pairing at first, have settled in and become more comfortable together
Where Prime struts its stuff is on the production side. The broadcast picture is pristine, and AI-powered features, such as defensive alerts and pocket protection, enhance the show. “Prime Vision with Next Gen Stats,” an alternate stream, is a personal favorite.
“ ‘Prime Vision’ has evolved from day one,” Stacey said. “We use it both because we know there are fans that want to see all of that information, but we also use it to experiment with technology. If something works, we move it to the main broadcast, like you saw us do with defensive alerts.”
Though Philadelphia will get special treatment as the host city, Prime’s pregame show has segments in store for Bears fans. Caleb Williams shares his thoughts on the season, and Chicago native and comedian Sebastian Maniscalco talks about his Bears fandom.
“We certainly want to tell the story of being a Bears fan this time of year and how this year feels different,” Stacey said. “We’re really excited to tell that story and start to showcase the players on this team that looks like we’re going to be seeing in the playoffs.”
When the pregame show kicks off at 12:30 p.m., Prime will be 4 ½ hours into its sports extravaganza. With 10 ½ hours still to go, make sure your remote is properly powered.
“It’s another way to connect with customers and show the value that a Prime membership brings,” Stacey said of the day. “And then alongside that obviously comes all the retail deals and the ability to shop the game on Prime using your remote control. It’s a day that makes a lot of sense for our company, and hopefully it delivers a lot of value and a lot of fun for our customers watching at home.”
BLACK FRIDAY ON PRIME VIDEO
8 a.m.: The Skins Game
– Tommy Fleetwood, Xander Schauffele, Keegan Bradley and Shane Lowry compete at Panther National in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.
12:30 p.m.: “Black Friday Football” pregame show
2 p.m.: Bears at Eagles (also available on Fox 32, 1000-AM)
6:30 p.m.: Bucks at Knicks
9 p.m.: Mavericks at Lakers