It's not the first and it won't be the last, but that doesn't make it any more palatable to some fans
The NFL has awarded Prime Video exclusive streaming rights to the AFC wild-card round game between the Steelers and Ravens that kicked off at 8pm on Saturday, and fans, stuck on the other side of a paywall, are angry once again.
“Just another reason to stop watching the NFL… putting the playoffs first, what a joke,” one wrote.
“The day has finally come where they destroy sports… Wake up NFL! “Not everyone can afford the main video,” another said.
A third said: “We as a country need to come together and fight back against the NFL and all streaming services.”
Last season, the NFL signed a $100 million deal that allowed Peacock to broadcast a wild-card round game between the Dolphins and the Chiefs.
The game reached a total of 32.1 million viewers, becoming at the time the most-streamed live event in US history.
Amazon broke its previous deal with Peacock by paying a new record sum — $120 million — for the rights to the Steelers-Ravens matchup, Front Office Sports reported.
This comes after Amazon paid about $100 million to broadcast the league's first Black Friday game between the Dolphins and Jets in November 2023.
Amazon also streams “Thursday Night Football” games, a deal that costs about $1 billion per season.
This deal runs until 2033.
