The New York Jets Take The Spotlight For First Ever NFL Black Friday Game
In less than two weeks, the NFL will host its first game on Black Friday. On November 24th, the Miami Dolphins will travel to take on the New York Jets at 3 p.m. for the holiday’s inaugural game. The game can be viewed on Amazon Prime Video, which also now hosts Thursday Night Football.
Black Friday has been a prevalent day for decades when it comes to getting good deals, and Amazon has become an empire in terms of online shopping. During the game, viewers will now have an opportunity to shop Black Friday deals on Amazon. Special deals will pop up on the screen that people will be able to go to straight from the game. Amazon will get an opportunity to sell items that are geared toward their football target audience. If they play their cards right with what they advertise, Amazon could be in for the biggest Black Friday profit margin in history.
Unfortunately for Amazon, this is a game they originally hoped would feature Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers. Rodgers, a four-time MVP, tore his Achilles in his Jets debut back in week 1 and will not return in time for the game. As one of the greatest players in NFL history, Rodgers would have given Amazon a chance to market the game around him. Despite his absence, the Jets are still in playoff contention which should be enough to garner a similar audience to what it would have been if Rodgers played.
Amazon Prime Video is running a marketing campaign called ‘Paint It Black’ to promote the game. Starting on November 1st and going to the day of the game, The company is running ads centered around the Rolling Stones hit song ‘Paint It Black.’
The Cincinnati Bengals volunteered to be a host for not only this season but also future seasons to come. The Bengals wanted to be the team known for playing on Black Friday, similar to the Detroit Lions and Dallas Cowboys being known for playing on Thanksgiving. The NFL even considered a game where the Bengals played the Pittsburgh Steelers, before ultimately picking Dolphins vs Jets. There is also a possibility that the Jets are the team to host the game for the foreseeable future as hosting a football game in New York, the biggest market in the country, on a day about shopping would help every business involved.
While this may be the first NFL game to be broadcast on Black Friday, I believe it will be very successful and something that will continue for the foreseeable future. As long as Amazon is at the helm of the broadcast, people will continue taking advantage of the deals presented to them while watching a sport they love.
