The NFL is expanding to yet another holiday, reportedly acceding to Amazon’s request for a Black Friday game as soon as 2023.
Sports Business Journal reported Wednesday that the NFL will schedule a game for Black Friday — the day after Thanksgiving — as soon as next season. Amazon, which had requested a Black Friday game, will be the broadcaster.
Airing an NFL game on Black Friday would presumably drive even more traffic to Amazon on what is the biggest shopping day of the year and in return take advantage of the greater pool of potential viewers who could stumble upon the game while online shopping.
Black Friday has historically been the domain of college football, with a full slate of games on over-the-air television each year. This year, ABC is set to carry the Florida-Florida State rivalry game in primetime.
The NFL has steadily expanded its schedule to encroach upon other sports’ limited territory. With its expanded, three-game Christmas Day slate and new Monday night Martin Luther King Day playoff game, the league has taken hold of dates long associated with the NBA. It has also scheduled a primetime game for January 2 — the date college football will hold its traditional New Year’s Day bowl games — pushing the Sugar Bowl out of its normal post-Rose Bowl slot.
Even with all of the schedule disruptions of the past two years, Friday games are exceedingly rare in the NFL. There has only been four in the past 20 years, the most recent being Vikings-Saints on Christmas two years ago.
The Black Friday game would add a ninth window to the NFL’s crowded Thanksgiving weekend schedule.
[News from Sports Business Journal 8.10]
