Dude Perfect will co-host several broadcasts of Thursday Night Soccer on … [+] Amazon Prime Video this season.
Amazon has become one of the largest and most successful companies in the world because of its seemingly endless options for customers. With more than 350 million products on its website, including 12 million that it sells itself, the e-commerce giant has something for everyone.
So it’s no surprise that Amazon Prime Video is highlighting the same choice and variety when it comes to streaming games, especially when it kicks off an 11-year deal worth $1 billion annually as an exclusive home of the NFL’s Thursday Night Football.
In addition to its traditional broadcast of TNF led by Al Michaels, Kirk Herbstreit and Kaylee Hartung, Prime Video will offer fans a variety of streams each week, including TNF and the popular comedy Dude Perfect and a quintet of sports in several games this year.
“In a rapidly changing media environment, we need to be open-minded and flexible with how other demos might want to interact with our content,” says Marie Donoghue, Amazon’s vice president of global sports video. “We don’t want to be clever, we want to reach new fans and create long-term relationships with them. I always tell the team that we want to focus on what’s good for the fans, not just different. That’s the way our general coverage is great, and it’s very important as we test other coverages.
“Given the opportunity to bring The Dudes’ unbridled enthusiasm and infectious energy to Thursday Night Football, it’s a real opportunity to differentiate our broadcast and we look forward to welcoming their entire community, fans and family members to This is another viewing experience. We really think it’s an opportunity to reach new audiences and I can’t emphasize enough that it’s about engaging and building relationships with those new audiences.”
First meeting as college roommates at Texas A&M University, Tyler Toney, twins Cory and Coby Cotton, Garrett Hilbert and Cody Jones formed Dude Perfect in 2009. The Dudes grew their viral games and comedy content. to 58 million subscribers on YouTube, 16.4 million on TikTok and 11.6 million on Instagram as well as a nationwide sales tour.
TNF with Dude Perfect will have a team rocking off-the-wall challenges, airbrushing and life-changing intense action-based on-field action at their 30,000-square-foot headquarters. -foot in Frisco, Texas. The boys will predict what will happen in the next game as they host a parade of dunk tanks, pudding cannons and special guests.
“It’s a huge honor,” The Dudes said in a statement. “When Amazon Prime Video first arrived, we knew this was going to be an opportunity we couldn’t turn down – and one we wanted to devote all our time and attention to. It’s important to us to create this unique product and experience that viewers have never seen before.”
The other stream is the first of many expected to be broadcast by Prime Video before its Thursday Night Soccer regular season opener on September 15 when the Los Angeles Chargers visit the Kansas City Chiefs. According to Donoghue, Prime Video will offer at least two more streams each week.
“We’ll be announcing a few more as we get closer to the start of the season,” he says.
Former Indianapolis Colts quarterback Pat McAfee, one of the most sought-after names in sports media, has been linked with hosting another “McAfee-Cast,” according to reports.
Some reports suggest that another “QBs only” broadcast is still in the works with former New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees, despite his stint as an analyst for NBC Sports.
“That’s the advantage of OTT—we don’t have to choose one type of fan to program, we can offer different options,” Donoghue says. “We will have the best coverage in the business with our traditional broadcast with Al, Kirk, Kaylee and the team, but other feeds give us the opportunity to try new things and attract new audiences in new ways. different.”
Amazon Prime Video’s exclusive 15-season package (which also includes one preseason game) debuts this fall, a year earlier than originally announced after the NFL shortened its contract and Fox. Amazon’s 11-year deal, which matches the length of Sunday and Monday packages acquired by Disney, Comcast, ViacomCBS and Fox, is the first time in NFL history that an all-streaming provider will carry weekly games.
The Thursday Night Football broadcast also listed Charissa Thompson, Tony Gonzalez, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Aqib Talib, Andrew Whitworth and Richard Sherman as contributors for the first game, halftime and post game.
“We’ve been in business with (the NFL) for a while but bringing the national package to broadcast was a very big and important step,” says Donoghue. “When we were negotiating that deal, we needed to differentiate ourselves in terms of what we could bring to the NFL.
“Critical in those conversations was always our commitment to innovation and to reach and engage new audiences. We believe that other channels fulfill these goals and that’s exactly what we’re doing with Dude Perfect.”
