The newest two-year partnership between the NFL and Amazon has yielded positive results for Twitch users. That’s because, in announcing the latest signed deal that allows Amazon Prime members to stream 11 Thursday night football games during the 2018 season, the NFL said those games also will be simulcast on Twitch.
An NFL spokesman confirmed to the Daily Dot that you don’t need to be an Amazon Prime subscriber to watch the games on Twitch. The games, which will be available for Twitch users beginning in Week 4 when the L.A. Rams play host to the Minnesota Vikings on Sept. 27, are also available on the NFL Network.
This is the second season that the majority of Thursday night games can be watched on Amazon Prime, and according to the league, it was a good deal for the NFL.
“Amazon was a tremendous partner for Thursday Night Football in 2017 and as we continue our mission of delivering NFL games to fans whether they watch on television or on digital platforms, we are excited to work with them again for the next two seasons,” Brian Rolapp, chief media and business officer for the NFL, said in a statement. “Having over 100 million Amazon Prime members provides a massive platform to distribute Thursday Night Football digitally, not only to our fans in the United States but also around the world.”
Excluding Thanksgiving, all Thursday night games from Week 4 to Week 15 will be available on Amazon Prime and Twitch. The rest of the Thursday night games are exclusive to the NFL Network.
In the past, the league also has experimented with livestreaming games on Twitter, while Twitch has previously livestreamed contests from the NBA’s developmental league.
The NFL charged Amazon $50 million for the rights to livestream those contests in 2017, and according to the Wall Street Journal, the deal could be worth around $65 million in 2018.
Perhaps not coincidentally, Amazon announced on Thursday it would raise the annual Prime membership fee from $99 to $119 next month.