DETROIT, MI – NOVEMBER 24: A detailed view of an NFL shield logo painted on the field before the game between the Detroit Lions and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Ford Field on November 24, 2013 in Detroit, Michigan. The Buccaneers defeated the Lions 24-21. (Photo by Mark Cunningham/Detroit Lions/Getty Images)
Amazon Prime kicked off a new age of NFL streaming by hosting last Thursday’s preseason game between the Houston Texans and San Francisco 49ers.
Per Sports Journal’s John Ourand, the game drew 1.03 million viewers with a median age of 51 years old. He said that number “lags” behind expectations for preseason games on traditional TV and cautioned that the game “was not heavily marketed beforehand.”
As noted by Michael Mulvihill, the major TV networks fared much better last week.
The median age also seems remarkably high, especially for a streaming platform, but a fan offered a possible explanation. Younger viewers could have been watching on someone else’s account.
There are other reasons the commerce giant probably isn’t panicking about the underwhelming number. In addition to Amazon not heavily promoting the preseason affair, local TV stations still broadcast the game.
The fact that it’s only preseason is an important caveat. Even avid football fans are less likely to spend any time figuring out how to watch Brock Purdy and Jeff Driskel live.
However, that will likely change once Amazon makes its regular-season debut with a matchup featuring Justin Herbert and Patrick Mahomes.
NBC will still televise next Thursday’s Week 1 opener between the St. Louis Rams and Buffalo Bills, but Amazon will then take over Thursday Night Football for a marquee Week 2 clash pitting the Los Angeles Chargers against the Kansas City Chiefs.
The viewership numbers from that game will be far more interesting to monitor.
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