Amazon Touts Vastly Improved 2024 'Thursday Night Football' Schedule Full of Divisional Rivalries, Fewer Turkeys
'TNF' has divisional showdowns in each of its first five weeks of the regular season, and there are only three games matching two teams that didn't make the playoffs last year
After improving its overall viewership by 24% in its second season with a marginally better lineup of NFL games, Amazon Prime Video hopes to keep its Thursday Night Football momentum going this fall with what appears to be a rock-solid third campaign.
“This is our best schedule yet," declared Jay Marine, VP of Prime Video and global head of sports and ads for Amazon.
Marine has the receipts. Twelve of the 16 regular-season National Football League matchups presented on Thursday Night Football this fall will feature divisional rivalries.
TNF has the Super Bowl Champion Kansas City Chiefs only once, but in the package's big "Black Friday" showdown, and against the Chiefs' long-loathed division rival Las Vegas Raiders. The package will see the runner-up San Francisco 49ers twice, both times in division rivalry games.
There will be plenty of star power, too. Controversial right-wing extremist quarterback Aaron Rodgers and his New York Jets will appear twice, while the Chicago Bears and No. 1 overall draft pick Caleb Williams will be showcased on TNF's last regular season game.
And while TNF's inaugural 2022 season streamed so many irrelevant games featuring non-contending teams that even play-by-play announcer Al Michaels compared promoting the package to selling used cars, this year's schedule only includes three contests with two teams that failed to make the playoffs the year before. And one of those games includes the Seattle Seahawks, which missed out on the postseason via tiebreaker.
Oh, and Amazon coughed up big money to secure a Wild Card postseason exclusive.
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Complete 2024 Thursday Night Football Schedule (all times EDT):
TNF Tonight pregame coverage begins each Thursday at 7 p.m.
* Preseason game – Thursday, Aug. 22: Indianapolis Colts at Cincinnati Bengals
Week 2 - Sept. 12: Buffalo Bills at Miami Dolphins
Week 3 - Sept. 19: New England Patriots at New York Jets
Week 4 - Sept. 26: Dallas Cowboys at New York Giants
Week 5 - Oct. 3: Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Atlanta Falcons
Week 6 - Oct. 10: San Francisco 49ers at Seattle Seahawks
Week 7 - Oct. 17: Denver Broncos at New Orleans Saints
Week 8 - Oct. 24: Minnesota Vikings at Los Angeles Rams
Week 9 - Oct. 31: Houston Texans at New York Jets
Week 10 - Nov. 7: Cincinnati Bengals at Baltimore Ravens
Week 11 - Nov. 14: Washington Commanders at Philadelphia Eagles
Week 12 – Nov. 21: Pittsburgh Steelers at Cleveland Browns
Week 13 (Black Friday) - Friday, Nov. 29: Las Vegas Raiders at Kansas City Chiefs
Week 14 - Dec. 5: Green Bay Packers at Detroit Lions
Week 15 - Dec. 12: Los Angeles Rams at San Francisco 49ers
Week 16 - Dec. 19: Cleveland Browns at Cincinnati Bengals
Week 17 - Dec. 26: Seattle Seahawks at Chicago Bears
** NFL Wild Card Playoff Game: TBD
Daniel Frankel is the managing editor of Next TV, an internet publishing vertical focused on the business of video streaming. A Los Angeles-based writer and editor who has covered the media and technology industries for more than two decades, Daniel has worked on staff for publications including E! Online, Electronic Media, Mediaweek, Variety, paidContent and GigaOm. You can start living a healthier life with greater wealth and prosperity by following Daniel on Twitter today!