John Middlekauff is predicting that Amazon\u2019s NFL presence won\u2019t stop at Thursday nights.<\/p>\n
On his 3 and Out <\/a>podcast, the former NFL front office executive made the case that Amazon \u2014 which has been the exclusive home of Thursday Night Football on Prime Video since 2022 \u2014 has the financial resources and the viewer data to justify adding a Sunday package when the NFL next negotiates its media rights.<\/p>\n \u201cThursday Night Football has taken a huge step up in the world of sports,\u201d Middlekauff said. \u201cIt is now appointment viewing. It\u2019s now, from a ratings standpoint, a massive game. The level of games they\u2019re getting is much higher. Amazon is basically a $3 trillion company, and getting more valuable. They clearly enjoy being in business with the NFL. And I think the NFL clearly enjoys being in business with them, because unlike NBC, Fox, CBS, when you\u2019re talking upon billions upon billions of dollars, they don\u2019t have unlimited money. Amazon could buy the entire NFL package, triple it relative to everyone else, and not even blink an eye.\u201d<\/p>\n TNF > SNF? @JohnMiddlekauff<\/a> speaks on the potential for Amazon to continue to become a MAJOR partner with the NFL as well as the growth of the NFL international slate. pic.twitter.com\/xDcLZ1aL4r<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 3 & OUT with John Middlekauff (@3andout_pod) May 18, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n Amazon pays about $1 billion per year for its Thursday Night Football rights, and the results have given the league every reason to keep investing in the relationship. TNF on Prime Video averaged 15.33 million viewers per game<\/a> in 2025, which was up 16 percent from the prior season and the most-watched year in the 20-year history of the package<\/a> across any network, broadcast or cable included. The league has responded accordingly, adding Wild Card playoff rights<\/a> to Amazon\u2019s package, giving Prime Video Packers-Bears in the Wild Card round<\/a> last January, and opening the 2026 TNF schedule<\/a> with Lions-Bills in the first game ever played at the new Highmark Stadium.<\/p>\n What Amazon has built around Thursday Night Football \u2014 the ratings growth, the playoff inventory, the pre- and postgame operation \u2014 is the foundation for a much larger NFL relationship, and Middlekauff thinks the company has seen enough data from both the NFL and the NBA to know exactly what that relationship is worth.<\/p>\n \u201cI would be stunned, looking at the schedule, if Sunday Night Football, if Amazon isn\u2019t heavily involved, and they\u2019re in a position where they have Thursday Night Football and Sunday Night Football,\u201d Middlekauff said. \u201cI would imagine they\u2019re going to have multiple packages because this business is too lucrative being involved in football and they\u2019ve now had a front-row seat and they\u2019ve had a couple years of data between the two sports they\u2019re involved with. And I\u2019d be stunned if they don\u2019t double down.\u201d<\/p>\n The NFL is widely expected to exercise its 2029 opt-out<\/a> and seek to double its annual media revenue in the next round of deals, if it doesn\u2019t negotiate even sooner. Netflix just expanded to a five-game package<\/a> for the 2026 season, with YouTube walking away<\/a> from a split arrangement and Fox and CBS picking up the leftover inventory. Amazon hasn\u2019t made a move yet on additional inventory, but Sunday Night Football would be a natural expansion if the package were to become available.<\/p>\n \t