At $750,000 a Throw, Amazon’s NFL Black Friday Ads Are an Easy Score

Despite the concerns about lower-than-anticipated attendance for the NFL's inaugural Black Friday game in 2023, Amazon Prime Video had sold out its advertising slots four months prior. Advertisers were eager to purchase the available ad space, shelling out up to $750,000 for a 30-second spot during the game. Given the usual seasonal viewing trends, this expenditure is likely to pay off handsomely.

Although the first game last year didn't live up to Amazon's viewership expectations—where the Dolphins triumphed over the Jets with a score of 34-13, attracting 9.61 million viewers, about 2.2 million short of the average for Thursday Night Football in 2023—marketers remained eager to invest in the follow-up. It's easy to see why: the upcoming game on Friday afternoon showcases the Kansas City Chiefs, the NFL's highest-rated team, which has pulled in an average of 24.2 million viewers across eight national broadcasts.

If having the current Super Bowl champions (and likely the most recognizable football fan in the world) isn't enough to help Amazon enhance its delivery performance from last season, the year-over-year increase in Thursday Night Football viewership indicates that their Black Friday advertising investments are paying off. According to Nielsen, the Thursday night games are drawing an average of 13.3 million viewers each week, as seen during last week’s snowy matchup between the Steelers and Browns, which is an 8% increase from the same period in 2023. Since Amazon launched the third season of TNF on September 12, the platform has been bringing in about 1 million more viewers per game compared to the previous year.

In addition to Amazon's appealing e-commerce features—EDO data reveals that viewers of last year's Black Friday games were 78% more inclined to look up brands or products featured in the ads compared to those watching ads on rival NFL Thanksgiving broadcasts—the platform attracts a much younger audience than the league's television partners. Currently, the average age of the Thursday Night Football (TNF) audience is 48.4 years, making it seven years younger than the NFL’s average for traditional TV (55.4) and almost 15 years younger than the typical broadcast primetime audience (63).

According to media buyers, the cost for Amazon's Black Friday ads fell between $650,000 and $750,000 each, with advertisers who had made larger commitments in advance getting better rates than those with smaller budgets. In the spring upfront market, advertisers averaged around $565,000 for every 30-second spot during the TNF schedule. This made it the third most costly option in prime time, following only Sunday Night Football, which exceeded $1 million, and Monday Night Football, which came in at $665,000.

Despite the seemingly one-sided nature of Friday's game, the struggling 2-9 Las Vegas Raiders might just surprise the formidable 10-1 Chiefs. Kansas City has only been winning by an average of 6.1 points per game, which indicates they haven't completely dominated their rivals. In their last encounter with the Raiders on October 27, Patrick Mahomes almost jeopardized the Chiefs' win by throwing an interception from deep in his own territory late in the third quarter. Ultimately, Kansas City managed to secure a 27-20 victory against a Gardner Minshew-led team that came into the game on a three-game losing streak.

Amazon has an advantage with a relatively quiet lineup on traditional TV Friday afternoon. Aside from a few college football games that don't draw much interest—CBS is featuring a matchup between 3-8 Stanford and 6-5 San Jose State, while ABC has the Egg Bowl rivalry with 2-9 Mississippi State facing 8-3 Ole Miss, a team that likely missed its chance at a spot in the College Football Playoff—there won't be much competition for Amazon’s Black Friday event. For advertisers, this open playing field, combined with the high-profile Chiefs and Amazon’s interactive advertising technology, should greatly enhance the effectiveness of their ad spending.