King: 2023 NFL Schedule Will Have Black Friday Game; 'Amazon Prime Is Jonesing'
May 16, 2022
The 2023 NFL schedule will have a game the day after Thanksgiving, per Peter King of NBC Sports, who noted that Amazon Prime is "jonesing for one."
Prime Video, which is now the exclusive home of Thursday Night Football following the last round of NFL media rights deals, was reportedly looking for a Black Friday game in 2022, per King.
However, that did not happen because of numerous scheduling conflicts and logistical concerns, including the FIFA World Cup matchup between the United States and England that afternoon.
King explained the issues with having a Black Friday game this year in more detail.
"The NFL cannot have a game go past 6 p.m. that day because of broadcast rules in place since the sixties. To respect college and high school football, the NFL cannot play on Fridays after 6 p.m. from Labor Day through the second Saturday in December. With USA-England World Cup game slated for FOX at 2 p.m. that day, the NFL would have either had to play at 11 a.m. if it wanted to avoid a conflict with the game, or start a game during the second half of the World Cup match."
However, the World Cup hurdle is cleared in the fall of 2023, paving the way for Prime Video to have a Black Friday game.
That matchup could be one to watch as well. As King noted, this year's Thursday Night Football schedule isn't filled with a bunch of games featuring teams with low prospects.
Of note, the ledger kicks off with the Los Angeles Chargers and Kansas City Chiefs, and it also includes other potential matchups with playoff-bound opponents (Tennessee Titans vs. Green Bay Packers, Buffalo Bills at New England Patriots, Las Vegas Raiders at Los Angeles Rams).
As King previously noted, the NFL would like to see Amazon's foray into the league be a successful one, especially given its annual $1 billion-per-year price tag to be the exclusive home for TNF.
Plus, Amazon is reportedly bidding "between $70 million and $100 million for a Black Friday game," per King.
In sum, all signs point to a massive Thanksgiving weekend of football in 2023 featuring three Turke Day games, an Amazon Prime matchup on Friday and the usual slew of Sunday matchups. That's all in addition to the Saturday college football slate, so football fans could be enjoying a great four-day stretch of games.