Insights into Amazon from an NIL deal for 'Thursday Night Football'

Prior to July 2021, it would have seemed unlikely, in addition to impossible, for one of the largest companies in the world to enter into a paid partnership with a walk-on athlete who attends one of the smaller NCAA Division I institutions. However, last week, Elon offensive lineman Jon Seaton posted a video for his 1.7 million TikTok followers, promoting “Thursday Night Football” on Amazon Prime Video through an NIL deal.

One of Seaton’s latest NIL deals with a major brand — he has also agreed to deals with Dr. Pepper, Fortnite, Ruby Tuesday, Sam’s Club and WWE — provides a window into Amazon’s approach to both NIL and obtaining media rights for live sports.

“This Thursday night, the NFL is back, so let’s get ready to watch some football,” Seaton said at the beginning of the video.

Seaton, who pivoted from only posting football content to what he calls “big guy” content, then provided a mix of deadpan and over-the-top, emotive comedy in the video as he chronicled his evening, including his “skincare time.” He simply splashed water on his face a few times.

Seaton then got into the core of the paid promotion for various Amazon services.

“They got Amazon Fresh, man, where you can get your game-day food delivered to your door,” Seaton said. “That’s wild. Prime Music as well, so you can get your other senses ready for the absolute awesomeness that’s about to go down in front of you.

“And of course, man, Prime Video. Now I’m going to need you to download it, sign in on the app or use the five-to-six character code. That’s only on a living room device, man. If you on mobile, just put your credentials in and get going.”

@jonseaton

Who’s ready for Thursday Night Football with @Amazon ?! Super excited to take advantage of all the benefits Amazon Prime brings and see all the hard hitting action! #tnfonprime #amazon @prime

♬ original sound – Jon Seaton

The benefits as a rights holder

Starting this NFL season, Amazon holds exclusive rights to stream “Thursday Night Football” as part of the NFL’s 11-year, $110-billion media rights deals with various media partners. Amazon agreed to pay roughly $1 billion annually, according to CNBC.

Amazon has reportedly already seen a return on investment.

Sports Business Journal reported that “according to a memo Amazon exec Jay Marine sent to staff late this afternoon, the viewership figure should exceed the 12.5 million benchmark that was promised to advertisers,” for the Week 2 “Thursday Night Football” game between the Kansas City Chiefs and L.A. Chargers.

That’s the game Seaton promoted in his TikTok video.

Amazon executive Jay Marine’s memo reportedly said that last Thursday featured “the biggest three hours for U.S. Prime sign-ups ever in the history of Amazon — including Prime Day, Cyber Monday and Black Friday.”

Seaton’s explanation of Amazon’s value proposition in his sometimes comical, sometimes matter-of-fact video, combined with the initial “Thursday Night Football” viewership data, shows the value of media rights for the global e-commerce company.

Exclusive streaming rights can lead to a significant number of customers signing up for Amazon Prime, as well as the potential cross-promotion for other services, such as Amazon Fresh and Amazon Music. In Seaton’s video, he had a box of mozzarella sticks in his lap, which he used to promote Amazon Fresh.

It’s a natural, digital integration.

Amazon could be ‘significant party’ in media rights

With the Big 12 and Pac-12 focused on their next round of media rights negotiations, “Amazon has emerged as a significant party in college football media rights talks and therefore may become a player in further conference realignment,” CBS reported this week.

Amazon can, and likely would have to, pay a premium for media rights in college athletics, likely due to potential concerns about distribution and exposure compared to linear TV.

Sports Business Journal‘s John Ourand tweeted over the summer that “If Apple – or Amazon – want Big Ten rights, they will have to offer much more than traditional media companies.”

However, perhaps the reported Week 2 audience for “Thursday Night Football” could prove to be one of the first indications that those concerns are overstated.

If and when a college athletics conference agrees to a media rights partnership with Amazon, the e-commerce company will have a foundation in which it could expand its number of NIL deals in a sort of vertical integration of its various services.

Amazon has slowly entered the NIL market, including partnerships with Auburn quarterback T.J. Finely and Clemson basketball player Brevin Galloway through Amazon Fashion. In August, Amazon announced a campaign between USC and Mademark, a branch of Amazon Fashion.

USC athletes have promoted the merchandise through NIL deals.

The benefits for Amazon increasing its presence in sports, including at the college level, make sense, especially when you hear Jon Seaton explain it.