When you're trying to watch "Thursday Night Football,'' the first two NFL weeks of the season can be a little confusing.
In Week 1, the Thursday game was on NBC, but that won't be the case for Week 2. Going forward, Amazon will be taking over Thursday night duties for the rest of the year with the only exception being Thanksgiving (Although Amazon will be missing out on Turkey Day, the internet company will get to show the NFL's first ever Black Friday game this year, so don't feel sorry for them).
This marks the second straight season that Amazon will be the exclusive provider of 'Thursday Night Football' and it's something you'll probably want to get used to since Amazon holds the rights to TNF through the 2033 season.
With Amazon's Thursday night season kicking off tonight with Vikings at Eagles, I thought now would be a good time to give you a quick primer on everything Amazon.
Here are five things to know for Thursday night:
- You will need a Prime subscription to watch. The only way you'll be able to watch tonight's game -- and every other Thursday night game for the rest of the season -- is if you have an Amazon Prime subscription, which costs $139 per year or $14.99 per month. You can also sign up for a free 30-day trial here, which will allow you to watch the next five games before making a decision about whether you want to keep Prime.
- Amazon's announcers are the same last year. Amazon debuted last season with a booth that consisted of Al Michaels and Kirk Herbstreit and that duo will be returning for a second season together. Herbstreit, who also covers college football for ESPN, said that his schedule last year took a serious toll on him. "If I was awake, I was preparing," Herbstreit told USA Today in August. "And that's great. But man, it takes a toll on you, and it takes away from the fun aspect of what we're doing."
- TNF studio show will look familiar. Amazon has stocked up its studio with former NFL players. The studio stuff will be hosted by Charissa Thompson, who will be joined by analysts (and former NFL players) Tony Gonzalez, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Andrew Whitworth and Richard Sherman. You'll see that group for pregame, postgame and halftime.
- Unique alternate feed. Amazon has an alternate feed called "Prime Vision with Next Gen Stats" and it's a feed that definitely adds a unique twist to what you normally see during an NFL game. According to Amazon, the feed will include pre-snap player ID tags, receiver route trees, identify open receivers and potential blitzers, and engage player-tracking data to display outstanding feats in ball-carrier speed, yards after catch, closing speed, and time to throw. Also, this will all be happening in real-time as the action occurs on the field.
- New yellow line that's not yellow. By now, everyone is familiar with the yellow first down line. Well, Amazon will be doing something slightly different this year. Besides the yellow line, there will also be a blue line. According to Amazon, this line will be shown in pivotal third-down down situations with "Prime Vision" overlaying a line on the field that indicates where the offense needs to advance the ball in order to receive a strong "go for it" recommendation on fourth down (the blue line will be available on the Prime Vision alternate feed). Basically, it sounds like the blue line is going to be a nightmare for coaches, who are now going to get second-guessed way more often than they already do.
Now that you know what to expect, here's a look at the full Thursday night schedule for Amazon.
Week 2 (Sept. 14): Minnesota Vikings at Philadelphia Eagles
Week 3 (Sept. 21): New York Giants at San Francisco 49ers
Week 4 (Sept. 28): Detroit Lions at Green Bay Packers
Week 5 (Oct. 5): Chicago Bears at Washington Commanders
Week 6 (Oct. 12): Denver Broncos at Kansas City Chiefs
Week 7 (Oct. 19): Jacksonville Jaguars at New Orleans Saints
Week 8 (Oct. 26): Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Buffalo Bills
Week 9 (Nov. 2): Tennessee Titans at Pittsburgh Steelers
Week 10 (Nov. 9): Carolina Panthers at Chicago Bears
Week 11 (Nov. 16): Cincinnati Bengals at Baltimore Ravens
Week 12 (Friday, Nov. 24): Miami Dolphins at New York Jets, 3 p.m. ET
Week 13 (Nov. 30): Seattle Seahawks at Dallas Cowboys
Week 14 (Dec. 7): New England Patriots at Pittsburgh Steelers
Week 15 (Dec. 14): Los Angeles Chargers at Las Vegas Raiders
Week 16 (Dec. 21): New Orleans Saints at Los Angeles Rams
Week 17 (Dec. 28): New York Jets at Cleveland Browns
One more thing: For the first time ever, Thursday night games can be flexed this year. The NFL can move up to Thursday games between Weeks 13 and 17, but before doing that, the league will have to give 28 days of notice to the teams involved.
