NEWSLETTER
Amazon is reportedly paying $13 billion (!!!) to be the exclusive home of the all-digital package of 15 regular-season Thursday Night Football games for the next 10 years. That number has me absolutely hornswoggled just thinking about it. Especially after last week’s fiasco.
And, yes, that includes tomorrow’s game between the Chicago Bears and Washington Commanders.
But if you’re a Bears fan who doesn’t have an Amazon Prime account, it doesn’t mean you will be blacked out from watching your favorite team tomorrow night.
Thursday Night Football games starring the Bears — this season and in the years to come — will be carried locally in Chicago on an over-the-air network. So, for tomorrow’s game, it will be FOX-32 carrying the Amazon simulcast of Al Michaels and Kirk Herbstreit calling the action. You might want to jot that down if you’re the type that needs (or even wants) to record the game.
On the one hand, I’m glad locals won’t be scrambling to watch the Bears in primetime this week. But on the other hand, Bears fans outside the Chicago market (of which there are many) and those who don’t have access to Amazon Prime (it’s unfair to assume everyone has it) will be hunting for a place to watch tomorrow’s game. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news if you fall under one of those umbrellas. But I’m writing this, in part, to get ahead of the curve to help prepare ahead of tomorrow’s game.
For what it’s worth, CNBC reports Amazon Prime and DirecTV successfully struck a deal to ensure that bars and restaurants could show TNF games. That’s a relief, to be sure. But not all bars and restaurants will fall under that umbrella. With that in mind, perhaps check with your local taverns and whatnot to see if they’ll carry it.
