Amazon compensates advertisers after lower than expected 'TNF' ratings

Season one of Amazon serving as the sole streaming provider for NFL "Thursday Night Football" football produced ratings lower than expected. Now, the company has had to compensate advertisers, according to reports.

The disappointing returns show streaming is off to a rocky start for the NFL, but the transition was to be expected much in the same way it took years for people to leave cable for streaming services. Now, with cable interest waning and more streaming options, it is likely that the NFL and Amazon will see continued growth in the audience.

The NFL and Amazon are in the first year of an 11-year, $11 billion deal, according to Front Office Sports. The deal allows Amazon to exclusively stream NFL games on Thursday. Last year, Amazon partnered with traditional broadcasts to show games.

Recently, Amazon announced that Thursday night broadcasts in 2022 averaged about 9.6 million viewers. But Business Insider noted that was about 25% lower than projections. Last year, Thursday night games had an average viewing of 13.4 million.

The good news is that “Thursday Night Football” drew a younger audience on Amazon. The median viewing age was 47, compared to 54 for NFL viewers on traditional networks, according to Front Office Sports. Thursday night games also saw an 11% jump in viewers between 18 and 34 years old compared to last year.

The miss in total viewers has led Amazon to compensate advertisers, giving ads on other Prime Video Streams and other amazon platforms, Front Office Sports reports.

“Thursday Night Football” ratings had to raise an eyebrow at the NFL offices and Amazon, but most will chalk up the numbers to first-year kinks. Some fans might have held off on purchasing Prime Video or did not know the games were exclusively on streaming.

Viewing habits can also change slowly, with many refusing to add a streaming service just for NFL games.

The key will be seeing if the audience grows in year two of the deal as more fans sign-up for Prime Video to watch games and cord-cutting continues to increase. If the growth happens in the “Thursday Night Football” audience next year, then it will be full-steam ahead. If it doesn’t, questions will rise about NFL’s streaming future.