Amazon goes all out to go all in with NFL

Let’s get this out of the way: If you live in the Chicago TV market, you do NOT need an Amazon Prime membership to watch the Bears’ game Thursday night against the Commanders. Fox-32 will carry it.

If you want the complete “Thursday Night Football” experience, which includes the pregame and postgame shows and alternate streams, go to amazon.com or open the Prime Video app on your device or connected TV. You can sign up for a free 30-day trial and watch the game.

Of course, if the proliferation of streaming services has overwhelmed you to the point you’re video-averse, you can just listen to the radio broadcast on 780-AM or 105.9-FM.

But Amazon’s production is worth your effort. In its first season as the exclusive broadcaster of “TNF,” the company has proved itself worthy of carrying prime-time NFL games and likely has set itself up to stream more sports down the road.

“We wanted to come out of the gate with a really ambitious plan,” said Jared Stacy, Amazon’s director of global live sports production. “This was not going to be a crawl, walk, run exercise. This was a dead sprint, and we wanted to do it at the highest possible level. We feel really good about where we’re at.”

Aside from its technological achievements, Amazon’s biggest feat was making its broadcasts credible. Whereas Apple TV+ struggled to gain credibility for its MLB broadcasts because of the streamer’s announcing teams, Amazon paired Al Michaels, the best NFL announcer of all time, with Kirk Herbstreit, ESPN’s lead college football analyst. It also hired former “Sunday Night Football” executive producer Fred Gaudelli to fill the same role on “TNF.”

“We certainly didn’t set out to replicate ‘Sunday Night Football,’ but there’s no question that that’s the gold standard for prime-time NFL coverage,” Stacy said. “We’re taking everything that’s great about that show and that operation and adding new and unique wrinkles.

“There’s a certain level of production and coverage that’s expected from a prime-time NFL game, and we had to hit that. We weren’t going to try to reinvent the wheel for the sake of reinventing the wheel. Before we’re going to be different, we have to be great.”

That began with assembling the technical side of the operation. Though Amazon has a production partnership with NBC, much of what Amazon created was from scratch. It contracted Game Creek Video to build first-of-their-kind mobile units to house its technology. Everything is based on IP (Internet Protocol) infrastructure, and games are produced in 1080p HDR (High Dynamic Range). Broadcasts employ the newest camera and replay equipment. Basically, they’re Super Bowl-level shows every week.

And keep in mind, they’re mostly going to an online audience.

“That part really speaks to the distribution side of what Amazon did on the scaling of how to make sure that you could serve millions of concurrent viewers, which hadn’t been done at a sporting event in this country or maybe anywhere,” Stacy said.

Amazon also offers alternate streams, including Prime Vision with Next Gen Stats (a personal favorite). Using Amazon Web Services, the broadcast displays real-time stats and information, plus overlays used to identify players and show receivers’ routes. The famous trick-shot artists of “Dude Perfect,” as well as longtime sportscasters Hannah Storm and Andrea Kremer, have their own alternate streams. But neither will appear for the Bears game.

“We want to have optionality. That’s where the alternate streams come into play,” Stacy said. “We really wanted to blend the familiar and the modern and figure out where we can go next. This is such a long play for Amazon, it’s going to be a long partnership with the NFL trying to build for the future.”

Remote patrol

The Score beat ESPN 1000 in the Nielsen summer ratings book (June 23-Sept. 14), finishing second in the market with a 5.1 share in the prime hours of 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. in the key demographic of men 25-54. ESPN was tied for ninth at 3.6.

The Score’s new “Bernstein and Holmes” had the best showing with a 7.5 share, placing second in the market from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The best battle is being waged from 2 to 6 p.m., where The Score’s “Parkins and Spiegel” and ESPN’s “Waddle and Silvy” tied for sixth with a 4.1 share.

Harlan Sports Management, a Chicago-based firm that represents college and pro football coaches, front-office executives and media personalities, was acquired by Excel Sports Management. Bryan Harlan, the Bears’ public-relations director in the 1980s and ’90s, founded the agency in 2000. He and longtime associate Bynum Jaeger will lead Excel’s Coaching and Executives division.

NFL games airing Sunday in the Chicago market: Jets at Packers, noon, Fox-32 (Kevin Burkhardt, Greg Olsen); Ravens at Giants, noon, Ch. 2 (Ian Eagle, Charles Davis); Bills at Chiefs, 3:25 p.m., Ch. 2 (Jim Nantz, Tony Romo).

WGN will carry ESPN’s broadcast of the Bears’ game against the Patriots on Oct. 24.

THE BEARS ON PRIME VIDEO

What to watch and where

• Fox-32 will carry Prime Video’s broadcast starting at 7 p.m. Kickoff is 7:15.
• Coverage on Prime Video starts at 6 p.m. with “TNF Tonight.” Marshawn Lynch debuts on the show. For his weekly feature, “’N Yo’ City,” Lynch played football with kids from Highland Park.
• Prime Video’s alternate streams: “TNF en Espanol” and “Prime Vision with Next Gen Stats.”