Over the past few years, streaming platforms have been getting an ever-larger slice of the NFL broadcasting pie. From Thursday Night Football on Prime Video to playoff games streaming on Peacock to Christmas Day games being on Netflix, it seems inevitable that one day NFL Sundays will have games on streaming platforms.
But will the Super Bowl ever become a streaming exclusive property? As much as fans may retch at the notion, it's getting harder and harder to say no.
In a recent interview with The Athletic's Andrew Marchand, Prime Video executive Jay Marine stated point-blank that Amazon wants to be able to televise the Super Bowl.
“For us, our ambition has always been to broadcast the absolute best, the pinnacle of live sports,” Marine said. “We never thought we wouldn’t do that in the fullness of time.”
“In the fullness of time, I absolutely expect that will happen,” Marine added. “Our desire is for that to happen in the fullness of time.”
When asked what "the fullness of time" means, Marine said that it basically means "while they're alive."
“I think it’s pretty self-explanatory,” Marine said. “How about: I’m still walking on this earth. How about that?”
© Kirby Lee-Imagn Images.
Inevitable or Avoidable?
As you might expect, fans have responded just as negatively to this assertion as all other previous notions that the Super Bowl would be available on a streaming service:
"Greed kills. They would come to regret the day the Super Bowl goes off free broadcast television. Fans would rightly be pissed. Buzz about the game would lessen. The shield would begin to rust. Do not do this, commissioner," one user wrote on X.
"Why cant the NFL make money with the TV networks, and leave it as it use to be. The greedy higher ups are ruining the game," wrote another.
"Have them try this, I dare them! This will blow up in their face like they’ve never seen!!"
At the end of the day though, money has far more influence over the NFL than what people say in the comments of social media posts.
As dystopian as it may sound, the Super Bowl may not be a free viewing experience forever - or for much longer.
