How To Watch Thursday Night Football In 2022: Better Have Amazon Prime!
Thursday Night Football is back ... as long as you have Amazon Prime.
The streaming giant bought the NFL's Thursday Night Football package for a cool $1 billion per year, and will make its debut with arguably the best matchup of Week 2: Chargers at Chiefs.
The NFL's TNF game has bounced around for over a decade, going from NFL Network, to CBS, to NBC to FOX. Amazon bought it outright last year, brought in Al Michael and Kirk Herbstreit to call the action, came up with a new theme song and got one practice rep in during the preseason.
Now, the action counts.
Here's everything you need to know:
Thursday Night Football is back, but this time it's on Amazon Prime. (Photo by Leslie Plaza Johnson/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
How to watch Thursday Night Football on Amazon
This is obviously the biggest question, with the simplest answer (sort of).
Yes, for most viewers at home, you'll need an Amazon Prime subscription.
Save yourself the research: Prime membership currently costs $14.99 per month, or $139 per year, while standalone Prime Video membership costs $8.99 per month.
So, if you're planning on watching this epic game from your living room, it's time to get Jeff Bezos on the horn and pony up.
How do you watch Chargers-Chiefs Thursday Night Football game? (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
How many people can watch Prime video at once?
According to sources ... three.
From Amazon:
The number of concurrent streams with the same Amazon account are limited. We allow three concurrent streams within the same Amazon account, and up to two simultaneous streams of the same content.
Will bars and restaurants carry Thursday Night Football?
You're in luck, because yes, they will!
Last month, Amazon and DIRECTV entered into a major multi-year agreement to offer Prime Video’s exclusive Thursday Night Football lineup to fans at more than 300,000 sports bars, restaurants, hotel lounges, retail shops and services, and many other venues nationwide.
If you happen to wonder into a bar that doesn't have DIRECTV, better hope they use a Roku or Firestick and have an Amazon subscription.
Can you still watch Thursday Night Football games at bars? (Photo by Armend NIMANI / AFP)
What channel is Thursday Night Football on?
Live in L.A. or Kansas City and don't have an Amazon Prime subscription? You're in luck, too.
Local stations for the two teams that are playing on Thursday Night Football in a given week are also going to have the game.
You're gonna have to check local listings throughout the year, but, since it's the debut and I'm feeling nice ...
Kansas City: KSHB-TV (Ch. 41)
LA: KTTV (11)
Al Michaels and Kirk Herbstreit will announce Thursday Night Football games on Amazon. (Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images for Amazon)
Who are the announcers?
As mentioned above, Michaels came over from his longtime seat in the NBC booth, while Herbstreit will now split time between College GameDay and TNF.
For the pregame show, Charissa Thompson will do hosting duties alongside Ryan Fitzpatrick, Richard Sherman and Tony Gonzalez.
The pregame show is set to start at 7 p.m., followed by an 8:15 kickoff.
Thursday Night Football theme song
We wrote about this a few weeks ago when the song was released.
Some like it, some hate it, but it's not the worst thing you've ever heard.
Have a look:
If you want to see where it ranks on the definitive Mount Rushmore of NFL songs, click this link and get ready to feel nostalgic.
Thursday Night Football and DraftKings have formed a partnership. (Photo Illustration by Budrul Chukrut/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Will there be live-betting glitches?
Probably.
When it comes to streaming, rarely do things ever go off without a hitch.
Just recently, HBO Max suffered big time outages during the premiere of House of the Dragon. Imagine the panic that could (will) happen if the TNF Amazon stream goes dark late in the fourth quarter.
Live, in-game betting is also hugely popular, and growing. That presents a difficult issue for most sportsbooks because streaming lags around 20-30 seconds behind the live event, or even regular TV.
No real solution has been presented, so, for now, you may just have to play the cards you've been dealt.
Speaking of ... you're INSANE if you don't go over 54 here.
OutKick 360 — Thursday Night Best Bets: Chargers @ Chiefs
Chad Withrow: Chiefs -4.5 & over 54
PK: +4.5
Hutton: Chargers Moneyline (+160) & Under 54
OutKick The Show — Clay Travis Takes Chargers Over Chiefs; AFC’s QB Talent Is Stacked
"I like the Chargers plus the 4.5 pts, over 53.5. It’s a battle that is going to be on in the AFC West for years to come. Both teams got the win in Week 1, and I can’t wait to watch tonight. We need to start talking about how overloaded the quarterback talent is between the NFC and the AFC. The AFC is more stacked than the NFC."
Don't @ Me — Dan Dakich Previews Tonight's TNF Match-Up: Chargers At Chiefs
Betting tips for Thursday Night Football!