Amazon Thursday Night Football Nets Record Prime Signups

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One complaint I found particularly funny and ironic was from The Ringer writer Rodger Sherman who commented that a “stunning” amount of ads on Amazon Prime’s TNF broadcast were for… Amazon Prime.

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Meanwhile, Sports Illustrated highlighted complaints from users who said they couldn’t start the game from the beginning if they tuned in late. Pro Football Talks’ Mike Florio said something similar happened to him when he went to the bathroom and tried to rewind to catch up when he got back. He managed to do this, but then couldn’t figure out how to fast forward to the live game.

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Not everyone experienced problems with the Amazon’s TNF broadcast. Some said it worked fine and delivered a great experience. And when it comes to those who had problems, it’s hard to know whether it was Amazon’s fault or whether they just didn’t have their settings configured the right way. In this case though, I agree with Sports Illustrated’s when it comes to tech issues (minus the caps).

“I DON’T WANT TO HAVE TO DO THIS NONSENSE TO WATCH A FOOTBALL GAME!” wrote SI’s Jimmy Traina, who was not alone in his frustration.

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Amazon said the wave of viewers even its own expectations, and it’s clear that the streamer did not consider the number of fans TNF would attract to its platform or their expectations when watching football. Considering that Amazon is spending $1 billion a year—for a whopping 11 years—to be one of the NFL’s official broadcasters, it’s baffling that the company didn’t anticipate these potential user problems and plan ahead to ensure a smooth and easy experience.

Many have pointed out that growing pains are to be expected. Amazon is the first of the streaming platforms to be an exclusive provider of a package of NFL games, and considering how many records it broke that night, there were a lot of people on its platform. Americans love football and they will go wherever the games are shown. That’s what $1 billion a year can buy you: Fans that will grudgingly stick with you no matter how much they complain.

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