{{Short description|Branding for NFL games broadcast on Thursdays}} {{about|broadcasts of National Football League games on Thursdays|NFL Network games on Saturday|NFL Network Exclusive Game Series|annual NBC games on Thursday|NBC Sunday Night Football|Canadian Football League games|CFL on TSN|ESPN's coverage of college football|ESPN College Football Thursday Primetime}} {{Cleanup|reason=Long unsourced lead, maybe a split could be useful?|date=June 2023}} {{Use American English|date=April 2026}} {{Use mdy dates|date=December 2024}} {{Infobox television | image = Thursday Night Football logo 2022.svg | image_size = 165 | alt_name = TNF | genre = NFL football telecasts | creator = | director = Pierre Moossa | presenter = Al Michaels<br>Kirk Herbstreit<br>Kaylee Hartung<br>Terry McAulay<br>Charissa Thompson<br>Tony Gonzalez<br>Ryan Fitzpatrick<br>Andrew Whitworth<br>Richard Sherman<br>Marshawn Lynch<br>Taylor Rooks<br>Ian Rapoport<br>Sam Schwartzstein | theme_music_composer = Pinar Toprak | end_theme = | open_theme = "Let Em' Know" by Shaboozey | composer = | country = United States | language = English | num_seasons = 16 {{small|(on NFL Network)}}<br>3 {{small|(on Prime Video)}} | num_episodes = 17 per season (16 regular season, 1 preseason) | list_episodes = Thursday Night Football results (2006–present) | executive_producer = Fred Gaudelli | producer = Mark Teitelman | location = Various NFL stadiums | camera = Multi-camera | runtime = 180 minutes or until game ends {{small|(inc. adverts)}} | company = National Football League<br>Prime Video Originals (2017–present) | network = NFL Network | first_aired = {{Start date|2006|11|23}} | last_aired = {{End date|2021|12|25}} | network2 = CBS | first_aired2 = {{Start date|2014|9|11}} | last_aired2 = {{End date|2017|10|26}} | network3 = NBC | first_aired3 = {{Start date|2016|11|17}} | last_aired3 = {{End date|2017|12|25}} | network4 = Fox | first_aired4 = {{Start date|2018|9|26}} | last_aired4 = {{End date|2021|12|25}} | network5 = Prime Video | first_aired5 = {{Start date|2017|9|28}} | last_aired5 = present | network6 = Twitch | first_aired6 = {{Start date|2018|9|26}} | last_aired6 = present | related = ''NFL Network Exclusive Game Series'' }}
'''''Thursday Night Football''''' (commonly abbreviated as '''''TNF''''') is the branding used for broadcasts of National Football League (NFL) games that broadcast primarily on Thursday nights. Most of the games kick off at 8:15 Eastern Time (8:20 prior to 2022 and 8:25 prior to 2018).
Debuting on November 23, 2006, the telecasts were originally part of NFL Network's '''''Run to the Playoffs''''' package, which consisted of eight total games broadcast on Thursday and Saturday nights (five on Thursdays, and three on Saturdays, originally branded as '''''Saturday Night Football''''') during the latter portion of the season. Since 2012, the ''TNF'' package has begun during the second week of the NFL season; the NFL Kickoff Game and the NFL on Thanksgiving are both broadcast as part of NBC Sports' ''Sunday Night Football'' contract and are not included in ''Thursday Night Football.''
In 2014, the NFL shifted the package to a new model to increase its prominence. The entire ''TNF'' package would be produced by a separate rightsholder, who would hold rights to simulcast a portion of the package on their respective network. Networks have included CBS, NBC and Fox.
In 2016, the NFL also began to sub-license digital streaming rights to the broadcast television portion of the package to third-parties, beginning with Twitter in 2016, and Amazon in 2017—initially on Prime Video, and since 2018 it is also being carried freely on Amazon-owned live streaming platform Twitch.
In 2021, it was announced that Amazon had acquired the exclusive rights to ''Thursday Night Football'' beginning in the 2023 season under the NFL's new broadcasting deals, marking the first time that the NFL had sold one of its main television packages to a digital media company. As before, all of the games are also streamed for free on Twitch, and aired on local broadcast television stations in the markets of the opposing teams as per NFL rules. As with all other nationally televised games, they are also carried on radio as part of the ''NFL on Westwood One Sports'' package.
At the end of the 2025 season, Amazon announced an average of 15.3 million viewers had watched each game throughout the schedule, the highest on record.<ref name=":6" />
==Background== ===Early history=== The NFL Network's coverage was not the first time that NFL games were covered on Thursday or Saturday. ABC televised occasional Thursday night games from 1978 to 1986 as part of its ''Monday Night Football'' package. Prior to the new contract, ESPN carried a handful of sporadic Thursday night games (usually those displaced from Sunday night) and the broadcast networks used to air several national games on Saturday afternoons in mid-to-late December after the college football regular season ended. Incidentally, the only reason the league is even allowed to televise football games on Saturday night stems from a legal loophole: the league's antitrust exemption, the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961, was written when the NFL regular season ended in mid-December, and as such, it contains specific language that prohibits televising NFL games in most markets on Friday nights and all day on Saturdays between the second week of September and the second week of December, to protect high school and college football. Since most high school and college seasons have ended by mid-December, other than bowl games, there has been little desire to close this loophole, even though the regular season has expanded well beyond mid-December since the law's passage.
In 2005, when the NFL negotiated a new set of television contracts, Comcast-owned OLN offered to pay $450 million for an eight-year contract to carry NFL prime time games. In exchange, Comcast planned to add NFL Network to its digital cable lineup. The channel was added, but NFL Network decided to air the games itself, foregoing a rights fee.<ref>{{cite news |author=John Ourand |date=January 25, 2009 |title=Why NFL Network is on the sidelines |url=http://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/article/61332 |access-date=January 27, 2009 |publisher=Sports Business Journal}}</ref> The other television deals generated $3.735 billion per year over an eight-year period for CBS, Fox, NBC, ESPN and DirecTV (owner of the out-of-market sports package NFL Sunday Ticket).{{citation needed|date=January 2014}}
As previously mentioned, ''Thursday Night Football'' debuted on November 23, 2006, with the Kansas City Chiefs handing the visiting Denver Broncos a 19–10 Thanksgiving defeat. Each of the game broadcasts were titled either ''Thursday Night Football'' or ''Saturday Night Football'', depending on the night on which it aired. This format carried over to the 2007 season.
At its launch, the package proved highly controversial mainly due to the relative unavailability of NFL Network at the time; the league used the games as leverage to encourage television providers to carry NFL Network on their basic service tiers, rather than in premium, sports-oriented packages that required subscribers to pay a higher fee; although, as with all other national cable telecasts of NFL games, the league's own regulations require the games to be syndicated to over-the-air television stations in the local markets of the teams. These issues were magnified in 2007, when a game between the New England Patriots and New York Giants that saw the Patriots defeat the Giants to close out a perfect regular season was simulcast nationally on both CBS and NBC, in addition to NFL Network and the local stations that the game was sold to, following concerns from politicians and other critics.
Starting in 2008, NFL Network eliminated all but one of the Saturday night games and started their Thursday night package three weeks earlier. This was done to accommodate the earlier schedule and the league's antitrust exemption that prohibits Saturday games from being held for most of the season. In the following season, all references to ''Saturday Night Football'' were dropped, and any games that are not played on Thursday (such as in 2016, two Christmas weekend games and an NFL International Series game) have since been branded as "special editions" of ''Thursday Night Football'', and later ''Thursday Night Special'' or ''NFL Network Special''.
As part of new media contracts taking effect in the 2012 season, the Thanksgiving primetime game was moved from NFL Network to NBC's ''Sunday Night Football'' package.<ref name="Newsday_NewTVContract">{{cite web |last=Best |first=Neil |date=December 14, 2011 |title=NFL renews lucrative TV deals |url=https://www.newsday.com/sports/media/nfl-renews-lucrative-tv-deals-t44030 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131110235834/http://www.newsday.com/sports/media/nfl-renews-lucrative-tv-deals-1.3389953 |url-status=live |archive-date=November 10, 2013 |access-date=December 15, 2011 |publisher=Newsday}}</ref>
During Super Bowl week in 2012, it was announced that the ''Thursday Night Football'' package would expand from eight to 13 games and air on NFL Network, again soliciting and rejecting offers from Turner Sports and Comcast.{{citation needed|date=January 2014}} For the four seasons from 2012 to 2016, and again in 2020 and 2021 all 32 teams played a Thursday game following a Sunday game that guarantees each team a nationally televised game with 26 of them playing on ''Thursday Night Football'' and the other six playing on Thanksgiving.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/04/17/all-32-teams-will-have-one-short-week-game/ | title=All 32 teams will have one short-week game | date=17 April 2012 }}</ref> In addition, matchups are created with the intent to minimize travel in the leadup to the Thursday game. In general, the road team will play a home game the Sunday prior, while the home team will either play at home or a road game against a nearby opponent the Sunday before hosting the Thursday game. However, there will be instances where the road team comes in having played a road game the Sunday prior in a nearby city that makes it possible for teams from far away to play each other on Thursday, as well as consolidate long road trips for the road team.
For the 2012 season, a Spanish-language broadcast was added as second audio program.
===2014–2015: partnership with CBS Sports=== In January 2014, it was reported that the NFL was planning to sub-license a package of up to eight ''Thursday Night Football'' games to another broadcaster for the 2014 season. The NFL had negotiated with its existing broadcast partners, along with Turner Sports. These eight games were to be simulcast by NFL Network, and reports indicated that ESPN planned to place the games on ABC in the event it won the rights, bringing the NFL back to ABC for the first time since Super Bowl XL and the move of ''Monday Night Football'' to ESPN in 2006.<ref name=nyt-newdeal>{{cite web|title=N.F.L. Explores New TV Deal|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/13/sports/football/nfl-may-sell-tv-rights-to-some-thursday-games.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&smid%3D=tw-nytsports&_r=0|work=The New York Times|date=January 13, 2014|access-date=January 17, 2014}}</ref><ref name=sbj-simulcast>{{cite web|title=Sources: NFL Wants Thursday Games Simulcast On NFL Network|url=http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Daily/Closing-Bell/2014/01/15/thursdays.aspx|work=Sports Business Journal|date=January 15, 2014|access-date=January 17, 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140119063610/http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Daily/Closing-Bell/2014/01/15/thursdays.aspx|archive-date=January 19, 2014}}</ref><ref name=sbj-abctnf>{{cite web|title=Sources: ABC Planning To Bid For Thursday Night NFL Package|url=http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Daily/Closing-Bell/2014/01/16/TNF.aspx|work=Sports Business Journal|date=January 16, 2014|access-date=January 20, 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140119063642/http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Daily/Closing-Bell/2014/01/16/TNF.aspx|archive-date=January 19, 2014}}</ref><ref name=wsj-bids>{{cite web|title=NFL Expected to Receive Bids to Air Thursday Games|url=https://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304419104579327103838456122?mg=reno64-wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB10001424052702304419104579327103838456122.html|work=The Wall Street Journal|date=January 15, 2014|access-date=January 20, 2014}}</ref> The remaining games would remain exclusive to NFL Network, in order to satisfy carriage agreements with television providers guaranteeing a minimum number of games to air exclusively on the channel.<ref name=nyp-biddingwar/> The decision came as the league wished to heighten the profile of its Thursday night games, which had suffered from relatively lower viewership and advertising revenue in comparison to other games.<ref name=sbj-tnf>{{cite news|title=How CBS won Thursday night|url=http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Journal/Issues/2014/02/10/Media/NFL-CBS.aspx|work=Sports Business Daily|access-date=September 17, 2014}}</ref>
On February 5, 2014, the NFL announced that CBS had acquired the partial rights to ''TNF'' for the 2014 season. Under the agreement, all of the ''Thursday Night Football'' telecasts would be produced by CBS Sports and called by CBS's primary announcing team of Jim Nantz and Phil Simms. The first eight games of the season were simulcast nationally on NFL Network and CBS; the remaining games in the package only aired nationally on NFL Network, but per league broadcast policies, were simulcast on local stations in the participating teams' markets. CBS affiliates were given right of first refusal to air the local simulcast before it is offered to another station (as had occurred in Cincinnati, Ohio where the market's NBC affiliate WLWT aired a game between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Cleveland Browns instead of CBS affiliate WKRC-TV). A Saturday doubleheader was also added on Week 16: NFL Network aired the early game, while CBS aired the second, prime time game.<ref name=cbj-nflncbsgames>{{cite web|title=Panthers' blowout loss sinks TV interest, too|url=http://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/blog/queen_city_agenda/2014/10/panthers-blowout-loss-sinks-tv-interest-too.html|website=Charlotte Business Journal|publisher=American City Business Journals|access-date=October 23, 2014}}</ref><ref name=cincy-wlwttnf>{{cite web|title=Bengals-Browns game on WLWT-TV on Thursday|url=http://www.cincinnati.com/story/tvandmediablog/2014/11/03/bengals-wlwt-tv-nfl-network-phil-simms-jim-nantz-thursday-night-football-sunday-night-football-cris-collinsworth/18418247/|website=Cincinnati.com|publisher=Gannett Company|date=November 3, 2014|access-date=December 9, 2014}}</ref><ref name=adweek-abound/><ref name=cbs-nflthursday>{{cite web|title=CBS to broadcast eight Thursday night football games in 2014|url=http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/eye-on-football/24431657/cbs-to-take-eight-thursday-night-games-in-2014|work=CBSSports.com|access-date=February 5, 2014}}</ref><ref name="usatoday-nflcbs">{{cite web |last=Cherner |first=Reid |date=February 5, 2014 |title=CBS to broadcast NFL games on Thursday in 2014 |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/2014/02/05/cbs-thursday-tv-games-nfl-network/5227869/ |access-date=February 5, 2014 |work=USA Today |publisher=Gannett Company}}</ref>
The NFL considered CBS's bid to be the most attractive, owing to CBS's overall ratings stature (CBS had been the highest-rated broadcast network in the United States since the 2005-06 television season), a commitment to aggressively promote the Thursday games across its properties, and its plans to utilize CBS Sports' top NFL talent and production staff across all of the games in the package to ensure a major improvement in quality over the previous, in-house productions.<ref name=sbj-tnf/> CBS staff also cited experience with its joint coverage of the NCAA Men's basketball tournament with Turner Sports as an advantage in its collaboration with NFL Network staff, as talent from both networks collaborate on pre-game, halftime and post-game coverage. During the games, a distinct graphics package co-branded with both CBS and NFL Network logos was used, certain players on each team wore microphones, and 4K cameras were used to allow zoom-in shots during instant replays.<ref name=cbs-nflthursday/><ref name=svg-tnfcbs>{{cite news|title=CBS, NFL Network Begin Final Push for Thursday Night Football Launch|url=http://sportsvideo.org/main/blog/2014/08/cbs-nfl-network-begin-final-push-for-thursday-night-football-launch/|work=Sports Video Group|date=August 21, 2014|access-date=September 3, 2014}}</ref>
With the move of selected games to CBS, media executives expected more major match-ups to appear on ''Thursday Night Football'' than in previous years in order to attract better viewership; in the past, ''Thursday Night Football'' had been criticized for often featuring games between lesser and poorer-performing teams.<ref name=sbj-strongslate>{{cite web|title=Execs expect strong NFL slate for CBS|url=http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Journal/Issues/2014/04/07/Media/NFL-Thursday-nights.aspx|website=Sports Business Journal|date=April 7, 2014|access-date=July 26, 2014}}</ref><ref name=br-hurting>{{cite web|title=Is Thursday Night Football Hurting the NFL Brand?|url=https://bleacherreport.com/articles/1788206-is-thursday-night-football-hurting-the-nfl-brand|author=Dan Levy|website=Bleacher Report|access-date=July 26, 2014}}</ref> CBS and the NFL unveiled the games scheduled for ''Thursday Night Football'' in April 2014; CBS's slate of games featured a number of major divisional rivalries, including New York Giants–Washington, Green Bay–Minnesota, and its opening game on September 11, 2014, featuring the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Baltimore Ravens.<ref name=adweek-abound>{{cite web|title=Rivalries Abound in CBS Thursday Night Football Slate|url=http://www.adweek.com/news/television/rivalries-abound-cbs-thursday-night-football-slate-157218|website=Adweek|date=24 April 2014 |access-date=August 14, 2014}}</ref><ref name=cbssports-14schedule>{{cite web|title=2014 NFL Thursday Night Football schedule|url=http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/eye-on-football/24656246/nfl-thursday-night-football-schedule|author=Eye on Football staff|work=CBSSports.com|access-date=August 14, 2014}}</ref>
In the wake of the controversy surrounding Ravens player Ray Rice (who had been removed from the team and suspended from the NFL earlier in the week following the discovery of footage showing the player physically assaulting his wife, Janay, who was engaged to Rice at the time the security camera footage was recorded), changes were made to pre-game coverage on the first game in order to accommodate additional interviews and discussion related to the incident. Among these changes were the removal of an introductory segment featuring Rihanna (who was similarly assaulted by fellow performer Chris Brown in 2009) performing her song "Run This Town".<ref name=si-tnfchanges>{{cite magazine|title=CBS announces changes to TNF coverage in wake of Ray Rice saga|url=https://www.si.com/nfl/2014/09/11/cbs-thursday-night-football-ray-rice-rihanna|magazine=Sports Illustrated|date=11 September 2014 |access-date=September 11, 2014}}</ref><ref name=wp-ravensrihanna>{{cite news|title=The Ray-Riceless Ravens are playing Pittsburgh tonight. The opening act is Rihanna.|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/09/11/the-ray-riceless-ravens-are-playing-pittsburgh-tonight-the-opening-act-is-rihanna/|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=September 11, 2014|access-date=September 11, 2014}}</ref> Following complaints by Rihanna on Twitter regarding the removal, the song was pulled entirely from future broadcasts.<ref name=time-removed>{{cite news|title=Rihanna Dropped From Thursday Night Football After She Slams NFL and CBS|url=https://time.com/3386650/rihanna-nfl-ray-rice/|magazine=Time|date=September 16, 2014|access-date=September 16, 2014}}</ref>
The rights were negotiated under a one-year contract valued at $275 million; on January 18, 2015, the NFL announced that it would renew the arrangement with CBS for the 2015 season, with its value increasing to around $300 million.<ref name=tnfvariety>{{cite news|title=CBS, NFL Renew Deal For 'Thursday Night Football'|url=https://variety.com/2015/tv/news/cbs-nfl-renew-deal-for-thursday-night-football-1201408283/|author=Brian Steinberg|work=Variety|publisher=Penske Media Corporation|date=January 18, 2015|access-date=January 18, 2015}}</ref><ref name=sbj-tnf/><ref name=thr-tnfpayday/>
=== 2016–2017: CBS, NBC, and tri-cast with Twitter and Amazon Prime Video === In November 2015, ''The Hollywood Reporter'' reported that in response to the success of the package under CBS, the NFL was planning to negotiate a long-term contract for ''TNF'', with CBS, Fox, NBC, and Turner Sports showing interest.<ref name=thr-tnfpayday>{{cite web|title=NFL Targets Massive Payday in Thursday Night TV Deal|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/nfl-targets-massive-payday-thursday-842646|work=The Hollywood Reporter|date=23 November 2015|access-date=25 November 2015}}</ref> The ''New York Post'' reported that this deal would also include the sale of a stake in NFL Network itself.<ref name="nyp-biddingwar">{{cite news |last=Atkinson |first=Claire |date=2015-11-23 |title=NFL aims to boost network with 'Thursday Night Football' bidding war |pages=1 |work=New York Post |url=https://nypost.com/2015/11/23/nfl-aims-to-rescue-network-with-thursday-night-football-bidding-war/ |access-date=28 November 2015}}</ref>
On December 16, 2015, it was reported that the NFL was shopping the ''TNF'' package as a one-year deal with an option for a second year, similarly to the current arrangement with CBS; the league also requested that bidders outline goals for "growing" NFL Network. The league was also reportedly interested in selling non-exclusive digital rights to simulcast the games to another partner, such as Amazon.com, Apple Inc., Google, or Yahoo! (which exclusively streamed an International Series as part of a trial during the 2015 season, but would shut down its original video content service in January 2016).<ref name=sbj-tnf2016>{{cite web|title=NFL Ready To Accept New Bids For Thursday Night Package, Including Streaming Companies|url=http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Daily/Issues/2015/12/16/Media/NFL-Thursday.aspx|website=Sports Business Journal|date=16 December 2015 |access-date=16 December 2015}}</ref> In January 2016, it was reported that the NFL was considering splitting the ''TNF'' package across multiple broadcasters in tandem with the possibility of expanding the overall package to 17 games. It was also reported that ESPN and Turner Sports were not interested in the package due to its short-term nature, and that Fox was attempting to outbid CBS.<ref name=thestreet-foxbidding>{{cite web|title=Fox Sports in Aggressive Bid to Steal NFL Thursday Night Games from CBS|url=http://www.thestreet.com/story/13415359/1/fox-sports-in-aggressive-bid-to-steal-nfl-thursday-night-games-from-cbs.html|website=TheStreet.com|date=9 January 2016 |access-date=13 January 2016}}</ref><ref name=sbd-tnfsplit>{{cite web|title=Sources: NFL Could Split Up Thursday Night Package Among Multiple Broadcast Networks|url=http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Daily/Issues/2016/01/11/Media/NFL-Thursday-night.aspx|website=Sports Business Daily|date=11 January 2016 |access-date=13 January 2016}}</ref>
On February 1, 2016, the NFL announced that ''TNF'' would be shared between CBS, NBC, and NFL Network for the 2016 and 2017 seasons. CBS and NBC would each air five games (resulting in a schedule of ten games on broadcast television in comparison to eight under the previous deal), followed by an additional eight games exclusively on NFL Network to satisfy NFL Network's retransmission consent contracts with cable providers; the eight NFL Network-exclusive games included six Thursday contests, a Sunday morning International Series contest, and a Christmas Day game. As with the previous contract, all games will be simulcast by NFL Network. Commissioner Roger Goodell stated that the league was "thrilled to add NBC to the ''TNF'' mix, a trusted partner with a proven track record of success broadcasting NFL football in primetime, and look forward to expanding with a digital partner for what will be a unique tri-cast on broadcast, cable and digital platforms."<ref name="deadline-tnf2016nbccbs">{{cite web|title=CBS & NBC To Share 'Thursday Night Football' With NFL Network; League Eyes "Tri-Cast" With Digital Partner|url=https://deadline.com/2016/02/thursday-night-football-cbs-nbc-share-nfl-network-1201694273/|website=Deadline.com|date=February 2016|access-date=1 February 2016}}</ref><ref name="wp-tnfnbccbs">{{cite news |last=Boren |first=Cindy |title=NFL reaches deal with CBS, NBC to split 'Thursday Night Football' |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/early-lead/wp/2016/02/01/nfl-reaches-deal-with-cbs-nbc-to-split-thursday-night-football/ |access-date=1 February 2016 |newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref> On April 5, 2016, it was revealed that Twitter had acquired non-exclusive worldwide digital streaming rights to the ten broadcast television TNF games. The collaboration will also include streaming content on Twitter's Periscope service, such as behind the scenes access.<ref name="ars-tnftwitter">{{cite web|last1=Brodkin|first1=Jon|title=Twitter buys NFL streaming rights for 10 Thursday Night Football games|url=https://arstechnica.com/business/2016/04/twitter-buys-nfl-streaming-rights-for-10-thursday-night-football-games/|website=Ars Technica|publisher=Conde Nast|access-date=5 April 2016|date=5 April 2016}}</ref> This also gave NBC a rare distinction of holding two primetime NFL packages, with them already holding Sunday Night games.
Rogers Media, who owns television rights to the ''TNF'' package in Canada through the end of the 2016 season but has not yet acquired digital rights (the majority of the NFL's media rights in Canada are owned by Rogers's rival, Bell Media), successfully forced Twitter to block the game streams in that country, overriding the league's insistence that the free stream be global.<ref name="torontosun-blackoutcdn">{{cite news|title=Rogers blacks out NFL games on Twitter in Canada|url=http://www.torontosun.com/2016/09/15/rogers-blacks-out-nfl-games-on-twitter-in-canada|newspaper=Toronto Sun|access-date=19 September 2016}}</ref><ref name="fp-canadianblackout">{{cite news|title=Canadians will be blacked out from Twitter Inc's deal to broadcast Thursday night NFL games|url=http://business.financialpost.com/fp-tech-desk/canadians-will-be-blacked-out-from-twitter-incs-deal-to-broadcast-thursday-night-nfl-games|newspaper=Financialpost|access-date=19 September 2016}}</ref> Due to the streaming deal, over-the-top television providers PlayStation Vue and Sling TV are also required to black out the simulcast of the games on NFL Network.<ref>{{cite web|title=Surprise! Thursday Night Football not available for streaming on Sling, PS Vue|url=http://awfulannouncing.com/2016/surprise-thursday-night-football-not-available-for-streaming-on-sling-ps-vue.html|website=Awful Announcing|date=16 September 2016|access-date=19 September 2016}}</ref>
The first game produced by NBC Sports was broadcast exclusively on NFL Network on November 3, 2016, while the first game simulcast nationally on NBC aired on November 17. A cappella group Pentatonix recorded a reworked version of their song "Sing" ("Weekend Go") to serve as the opening theme song for NBC's ''TNF'' telecasts;<ref name="billboard-nbcptx">{{cite magazine|title=Pentatonix to Sing NFL Thursday Night Football Opening Song|url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/7556721/pentatonix-nfl-thursday-night-football-opening-song-weekend-go|magazine=Billboard|access-date=1 November 2016}}</ref><ref name="nflcom-nbctnf">{{cite web|title=NBC gearing up to produce 'Thursday Night Football'|url=https://www.nfl.com/news/nbc-gearing-up-to-produce-thursday-night-football-0ap3000000732309|website=NFL.com|access-date=4 November 2016}}</ref> NBC also commissioned new instrumental theme music by Jimmy Greco, "Can't Hold Us Down", which was performed by members of the orchestra from the Broadway musical ''Hamilton''.<ref name="nbc-tnftheme">{{cite web|title=FIRST LISTEN: Hamilton Orchestra Performs Thursday Night Football Theme Music|url=http://people.com/music/hamilton-orchestra-performs-thursday-night-football-theme-music/|website=People|access-date=5 November 2016}}</ref> Both were retained for NBC's games in 2017.
On April 4, 2017, it was announced that Amazon.com had acquired non-exclusive streaming rights to the ten broadcast television games for the 2017 season over their Amazon Prime Video service, under a deal valued at $50 million, a five-fold increase over the $10 million paid by Twitter. The streams were exclusive to paid Prime subscribers.<ref name="sbnation-amazon2017">{{cite web|title=Amazon will stream 'Thursday Night Football' in 2017. Here's what you need to know|url=https://www.sbnation.com/2017/4/4/15185318/amazon-prime-thursday-night-football-nfl-rights|website=SBNation|date=4 April 2017|access-date=5 April 2017}}</ref> The deal includes $30 million worth of promotion.<ref name="bloomberg-nfldealamazon">{{cite news|title=Amazon's NFL Deal Includes $30 Million in Free Marketing|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-04-17/amazon-s-nfl-deal-said-to-include-30-million-in-free-marketing|newspaper=Bloomberg.com|date=17 April 2017|access-date=20 April 2017}}</ref> Amazon planned several special features for its inaugural game, including broadcasting alternate feeds with Spanish, Portuguese, and a secondary English broadcast featuring soccer commentators Ross Dyer and Tommy Smyth (intended for international viewers unfamiliar with the rules and terminology of American football), and a pre-show hosted by Tiki Barber and Curtis Stone that featured presentations of NFL merchandise available for purchase on Amazon.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.geekwire.com/2017/amazons-first-nfl-live-stream-overcomes-early-glitches-long-weather-delay/|title=Amazon's first NFL live stream overcomes early glitches and long weather delay|last=Levy|first=Nat|date=28 September 2017|work=GeekWire|access-date=15 November 2017}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/talkingtech/2017/09/28/amazons-nfl-stream-green-bay-chicago-could-draw-diehards-boycotters-and-curious/711787001/|title=Amazon's NFL stream of Green Bay-Chicago could draw diehards, boycotters and the curious|work=USA Today|access-date=2017-11-19|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://m.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Journal/Issues/2017/09/11/Media/Amazon.aspx|title=Amazon gives NFL global feel|website=Sports Business Journal|access-date=2017-11-19|archive-date=January 24, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180124044623/http://m.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Journal/Issues/2017/09/11/Media/Amazon.aspx|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2017-09-29|title=Amazon's NFL UK broadcast team is brutally honest about Bears bad performance|url=https://awfulannouncing.com/streaming/amazons-nfl-uk-broadcast-team-brutally-honest-bears-bad-performance.html|access-date=2020-10-06|website=Awful Announcing|language=en-US}}</ref>
The November 16, 2017 telecast between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Tennessee Titans was the first NFL broadcast to intentionally use the Skycam as its primary camera angle, as opposed to the usual sideline camera that has been used since telecasts of NFL games began in 1939. NBC Sports had previously switched to a skycam-only presentation for portions of two Sunday night games earlier that season because of fog and smoke (and, sixteen years prior, during its coverage of the XFL); positive reaction to the impromptu change prompted NBC to experiment with using the strategy for the full game.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.oregonlive.com/nfl/index.ssf/2017/11/nbcs_skycam_will_provide_madde.html|title=NBC's 'SkyCam' will provide Madden-like view of tonight's Titans-Steelers game|work=oregonlive.com|date=November 16, 2017|access-date=November 17, 2017|author=Geoffrey C. Arnold}}</ref> The Skycam Angle was also used for the December 14 telecast between the Denver Broncos and the Indianapolis Colts.
=== 2018–2021: Fox and Amazon Prime Video === In early January 2018, ''Bloomberg'' reported that ABC/ESPN and Fox Sports had both made bids for the next ''TNF'' package. Both Fox and Fox Sports 1 were named as potential outlets for the package in the Fox Sports bid, which was intended to showcase Fox's continued commitment to sports after the sale of its entertainment businesses to ESPN's majority-owner The Walt Disney Company (which excluded the Fox network itself and Fox Sports' national operations, such as FS1, among other assets). CBS and NBC were also considering renewing their existing contracts, but had requested a lower rights fee to compensate for the decreasing viewership of the NFL (''TNF'' had been cited as one factor in the downturn, due to a perceived oversaturation of nationally televised games). It was also reported that the NFL would also allow digital companies to make bids for exclusive rights to the ''TNF'' package which forego a television partner entirely, unlike the previous non-exclusive deals with Twitter and Amazon.<ref>{{cite news|title=Fox Is Trying to Win the Rights to Thursday NFL Games|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-01-16/fox-is-said-to-pursue-thursday-nfl-games-for-post-disney-future|website=Bloomberg.com|date=January 16, 2018|access-date=January 17, 2018}}</ref>
On January 30, 2018, it was reported by multiple sources that Fox had won the package.<ref>{{cite news|title=Fox Close to Deal to Air NFL's 'Thursday Night Football'|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-01-31/fox-is-said-close-to-deal-to-air-nfl-s-thursday-night-football|website=Bloomberg.com|date=January 31, 2018|access-date=February 1, 2018|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://awfulannouncing.com/fox/fox-reportedly-near-deal-win-broadcast-rights-thursday-night-football.html|title=Fox reportedly near deal to win broadcast rights to Thursday Night Football|date=2018-01-31|work=Awful Announcing|access-date=2018-01-31|language=en-US}}</ref> The next day, the NFL officially announced that Fox had acquired the broadcast television rights to the ''TNF'' package under a five-year deal lasting from 2018 through 2022 (which is aligned with the conclusion of the NFL's other television deals). Fox would air eleven games per season in simulcast with NFL Network, and Fox Sports would produce all games within the package. ESPN reported that Fox would be paying around $60 million per game—an increase over the estimated $45 million per game paid by CBS and NBC under the previous contract, totaling an estimated $660 million per season.<ref>{{cite news|title=Fox to broadcast Thursday Night Football for next five seasons|url=http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/22273473/fox-broadcast-thursday-night-football-next-five-seasons|work=ESPN.com|date=January 31, 2018|access-date=February 1, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Bonesteel|first=Matt|title='Thursday Night Football' will move to Fox next season|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/early-lead/wp/2018/01/31/thursday-night-football-reportedly-will-move-to-fox-next-season/|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=January 31, 2018|access-date=February 1, 2018|language=en-US|issn=0190-8286}}</ref> The Fox deal was terminated a season early in 2021.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=Amazon Prime Video to be exclusive 'TNF' home starting in 2022|url=https://www.nfl.com/news/amazon-prime-video-to-be-exclusive-tnf-home-starting-in-2022|access-date=2021-05-03|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210503170419/https://www.nfl.com/news/amazon-prime-video-to-be-exclusive-tnf-home-starting-in-2022|archive-date=2021-05-03|website=NFL.com|language=en-US}}</ref>
Amazon renewed its digital rights for the 2018 and 2019 seasons; in contrast to 2017 in which the games required an Amazon Prime subscription, for 2018 and 2019, Amazon also carries game coverage for free on its live streaming platform Twitch.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://variety.com/2018/digital/news/nfl-renews-amazon-thursday-night-football-1202789145/|title=NFL Renews Amazon Streaming Deal for 'Thursday Night Football' for 2018-19 Seasons|last=Spangler|first=Todd|date=2018-04-26|work=Variety|access-date=2018-04-27|language=en-US}}</ref> Alongside the main Fox feed, British English, and Spanish options, the Amazon Prime streams offer an alternate commentary feed featuring ESPN anchor Hannah Storm and NFL Network chief correspondent Andrea Kremer—the first all-female commentary team in NFL history.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.indystar.com/story/sports/2018/09/28/amazon-prime-hid-female-commentators-hannah-storm-andrea-kremer-nfl-thursday-night-football-first/1454851002/|title=Amazon Prime hid Hannah Storm and Andrea Kremer in NFL's first all-female broadcast|work=Indianapolis Star|access-date=2018-10-02|language=en}}</ref> The Twitch streams offer access to the service's standard chat room (along with special football-themed emotes), an interactive extension, and co-streams featuring prominent personalities, while streams on Amazon Fire devices offer integration with the X-Ray feature to access statistics and other content.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://variety.com/2018/digital/news/amazon-twitch-nfl-thursday-night-football-live-streams-1202958962/|title=Amazon, Twitch Unveil Enhanced Features for NFL 'Thursday Night Football' Live-Streams|last=Spangler|first=Todd|date=2018-09-27|work=Variety|access-date=2018-11-19|language=en-US}}</ref>
Fox employed 45 cameras, a dual-skycam setup, triple-lens pylon cameras, and Intel True View replay systems where available. ''Fox NFL Thursday'' originated from Fox News Channel's Studio F in New York City, as well as an outdoor plaza setup on Sixth Avenue (''Fox Square'') with a scaled football field and an audience.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.sportsvideo.org/2018/09/26/donning-thursday-night-football-mantle-fox-sports-flexes-tech-muscles/|title=Donning Thursday Night Football Mantle, Fox Sports Flexes Tech Muscles|last=Digital|first=Brandon Costa, Director of|work=Sports Video Group|access-date=2018-10-02|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/fox-news-channel-fox-sports-team-up-for-thursday-night-football-pregame-show-in-new-york-city|title=Fox News Channel, Fox Sports team up for 'Thursday Night Football' pregame show in New York City|last=Flood|first=Brian|date=2018-09-25|work=Fox News|access-date=2018-10-02|language=en-US}}</ref> A new graphics package was produced by Drive Studio, inspired by Times Square to reflect its New York City-based studio programming; unlike CBS and NBC, Fox utilized the same in-game presentation it uses for all other NFL games broadcast by the network.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newscaststudio.com/2018/10/11/fox-thursday-night-football-design/|title=Inside Fox's 'Thursday Night Football' design strategy|work=NewscastStudio|access-date=2018-11-04|language=en-US}}</ref>
For 2019, Fox announced that it would produce all of its games in 1080p upscaled to 4K, with hybrid log–gamma (HLG) high-dynamic-range color, beginning with its season premiere September 26, 2019. The telecasts were distributed via the Fox Sports app, Prime Video, and to participating television providers. HDR was only supported through television providers, but Fox stated that HDR and surround sound support would be enabled via streaming "soon".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theverge.com/2019/9/26/20884246/nfl-4k-hdr-broadcast-first-ever-fox-sports-thursday-night-football-streaming|title=Inside the first-ever NFL broadcast in 4K HDR|last=Patel|first=Nilay|date=2019-09-26|website=The Verge|language=en|access-date=2019-09-27}}</ref>
Due a carriage dispute between Dish Network and Fox resulting in the removal of its owned-and-operated stations and cable networks, it was reported that Fox had pushed NFL Network to black out its simulcast of the October 3, 2019 game between the Los Angeles Rams and the Seattle Seahawks for Dish Network subscribers to prevent circumvention. However, due to a clause in Dish's carriage agreement that forbade the channel from performing provider-specific programming substitutions, NFL Network agreed to forego the simulcast entirely, and the game was made exclusive to Fox (making it the first ''TNF'' game to not air in some capacity on NFL Network).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2019/10/05/fox-dish-dispute-results-in-broader-nfl-network-blackout-on-thursday-night/|title=FOX-Dish dispute results in broader NFL Network blackout on Thursday night|last=Florio|first=Mike|date=2019-10-05|website=ProFootballTalk|language=en|access-date=2019-10-05}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://awfulannouncing.com/nfl/nfl-network-thursday-night-football-blackout-dish.html|title=NFL Network now won't simulcast Thursday Night Football Rams-Seahawks game at all thanks to Dish/Fox dispute|date=2019-10-03|website=Awful Announcing|language=en-US|access-date=2019-10-05}}</ref> Fox and Dish agreed to a multi-year carriage agreement on October 6, 2019.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://variety.com/2019/biz/news/fox-dish-resolve-contract-football-blackout-1203360665/|title=Fox, Dish Resolve Contract Dispute After Football Blackout|last=Steinberg|first=Brian|date=2019-10-06|website=Variety|language=en|access-date=2019-10-06}}</ref>
On April 29, 2020, Amazon renewed its digital rights through the 2022 season, maintaining the ''TNF'' simulcasts and digital content, and also adding exclusive international rights to one late-season game per-season outside of the package (which will be produced by CBS).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://variety.com/2020/digital/news/amazon-nfl-thursday-night-football-2022-exclusive-games-1234591787/|title=Amazon Renews NFL 'Thursday Night Football' Through 2022, Scores Exclusive Game per Season|last=Spangler|first=Todd|date=2020-04-29|website=Variety|language=en|access-date=2020-04-29}}</ref> For its simulcasts, Amazon replaced the British feed with a new "Scout's Feed" with extended analysis by Bucky Brooks and Daniel Jeremiah (akin to the ESPN "film room" broadcasts of college football games), and "''NFL Next'' Live" on Twitch (with viewer interactivity).<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-10-05|title=Amazon Prime Thursday Night Football adding scout feed, Twitch stream, new talent for 2020 NFL season|url=https://awfulannouncing.com/amazon/amazon-prime-thursday-night-football-adding-scout-feed-twitch-stream-new-talent.html|access-date=2020-10-06|website=Awful Announcing|language=en-US}}</ref>
On October 19, because of a COVID-19 outbreak involving the Tennessee Titans, the originally scheduled Thursday Night game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Buffalo Bills, was moved to the following Monday due to the Titans playing the Bills the previous Tuesday. The Chiefs won 26–17. In a similar move, the Baltimore Ravens had their scheduled Week 13 ''TNF'' game against the Dallas Cowboys postponed to the following Tuesday. The Ravens had dealt with their own outbreak, which included positive tests from players including reigning MVP Lamar Jackson. For that reason, the Ravens had to postpone their Thanksgiving game against the Pittsburgh Steelers three times, the first time was originally postponed to the Sunday after Thanksgiving in the afternoon, then postponed a second time to the following Tuesday night, then postponed again to the following Wednesday in the afternoon. The postponements forced the Steelers' Week 13 game against the Washington Football Team to be moved from Sunday, December 6, to Monday, December 7, and as mentioned, the Cowboys-Ravens game a day later, with both games remaining on NFL Network, Fox, and Prime Video.{{Citation needed|date=May 2022}}
=== 2022–2033: Amazon Prime Video === In March 2021, Amazon acquired exclusive rights to ''TNF'' as part of the next round of NFL broadcasting agreements from 2023 through 2033. NFL Network, Fox, and Amazon subsequently opted out of the final year of the current agreement, meaning that Amazon's rights would begin in the 2022 NFL season instead.<ref name=":0" /> Also in that time, reports have verified that Amazon was close to partnering with NBC Sports to produce their broadcasts, and their contract is likely to be a three-year deal with Amazon having the option to extend it to five.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Casselberry |first=Ian |date=2021-07-15 |title=Amazon reportedly nearing deal with NBC to produce Thursday Night Football broadcasts |url=https://awfulannouncing.com/amazon/amazon-reportedly-nearing-deal-nbc-produce-thursday-night-football-broadcasts.html |access-date=2024-09-22 |website=Awful Announcing |language=en-US}}</ref>
This partnership became materialized as along with lead play-by-play announcer Al Michaels, ''Sunday Night Football'' producer Fred Gaudelli moved to Amazon as part of collaboration from NBC Sports; Gaudelli explained that his production operated under a notion that they needed to produce a "great" broadcast before they could start "breaking things and being different", as NFL viewers had specific expectations as to how a game should be broadcast. Jared Stacy, Amazon's head of global live sports production, stated that they were "challenged by our leadership to figure out what’s next and to take some swings". Gaudelli went as far as suggesting that the on-field down and distance graphic use Amazon's "smile" symbol as an arrow.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Feldman |first=Jacob |date=2022-09-13 |title=Amazon Will 'Take Some Swings' With Thursday Night Football Production |url=https://www.sportico.com/business/media/2022/amazon-thursday-night-football-production-1234688235/ |access-date=2022-10-16 |website=Sportico.com |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Deitsch |first=Richard |title=Al Michaels, Kirk Herbstreit to join Amazon's 'Thursday Night Football'; Herbstreit to still call college games for ESPN |url=https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/4180998/2022/03/23/al-michaels-kirk-herbstreit-to-join-amazons-thursday-night-football-herbstreit-to-still-call-college-games-for-espn/ |access-date=2024-09-22 |work=The New York Times |date=September 15, 2022 |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Amazon will employ 13 "super slo-mo" cameras, two Skycams, and TrackMan ball tracking. Pinar Toprak composed new theme music for the telecasts. Features from the previous simulcasts of ''TNF'' on Amazon platforms will return, including X-Ray, and broadcasts on Twitch. Amazon also plans alternate broadcasts for Prime Video and Twitch, such as one that features the sports comedy team Dude Perfect.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Dachman |first=Jason |date=2022-08-25 |title=Amazon Prime Video Kicks Off New Era of NFL Production With Exclusive Thursday Night Football Package |url=https://www.sportsvideo.org/2022/08/25/amazon-prime-video-kicks-off-new-era-of-nfl-production-with-exclusive-thursday-night-football-package/ |access-date=2022-08-26 |website=Sports Video Group |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Staff |first=S. V. G. |date=2022-08-03 |title=Prime Video Presents TNF With Dude Perfect Alternative Stream |url=https://www.sportsvideo.org/2022/08/03/prime-video-presents-tnf-with-dude-perfect-all-new-thursday-night-football-alternate-stream/ |access-date=2022-08-26 |website=Sports Video Group |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=2022-09-15 |title=Amazon Primed For 'Thursday Night Football' Tour |url=https://tvnewscheck.com/tech/article/amazon-primed-for-thursday-night-football-tour/ |access-date=2024-11-28 |website=TV News Check |language=en-US}}</ref>
It was reported that Amazon was seeking advertising rates 20% higher than those of Thursday games in past seasons.<ref name=":5">{{Cite web |date=2022-02-10 |title=Amazon's NFL 'Thursday Night Football' ad packages get pricey markup |url=https://adage.com/article/digital-marketing-ad-tech-news/big-ad-price-increase-amazon-nfl-thursday-night-football-packages/2398921 |access-date=2022-10-01 |website=Ad Age |language=en}}</ref> Per a corporate policy prohibiting advertising that "encourage, glamorize or depict excessive consumption of alcohol" on its platforms, Amazon is not allowing commercials for alcoholic beverages to air during its telecasts (although they may still appear in advertising slots sold by the league, naturally as part of the stadium's advertising, or as part of commercial time held by local broadcasters).<ref name=":5" /><ref>{{Cite news |last=Smith |first=Gerry |date=2022-09-22 |title=You Won't See Beer Ads on Amazon's 'Thursday Night Football' |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-09-22/amazon-s-no-alcohol-policy-keeps-beer-ads-off-thursday-football |access-date=2024-09-22 |work=Bloomberg.com |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-09-22 |title=You won't see beer ads on Amazon's 'Thursday Night Football' |url=https://adage.com/article/marketing-news-strategy/amazon-thursday-night-football-has-no-beer-ads/2432756 |access-date=2022-10-01 |website=Ad Age |language=en}}</ref>
As with all other NFL telecasts not on national broadcast television, all ''Thursday Night Football'' games are required to be simulcast on a broadcast television station in the home market of each participating team.<ref name=":2" /> To ensure availability of the broadcasts at commercial establishments such as bars and restaurants (which might not be configured to handle streaming-only broadcasts), Amazon partnered with DirecTV (which had historically carried NFL Sunday Ticket) to carry its ''Thursday Night Football'' telecasts on special channels for its business customers.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Staff |first=S. V. G. |date=2022-08-23 |title=DIRECTV Inks Deal With Amazon Prime Video to Provide Thursday Night Football to 300,000+ Sports Bars and Other Venues |url=https://www.sportsvideo.org/2022/08/23/directv-inks-deal-with-amazon-prime-video-to-provide-thursday-night-football-to-300000-sports-bars-and-other-venues/ |access-date=2022-08-26 |website=Sports Video Group |language=en}}</ref> In addition, Amazon reached an agreement with Nielsen Media Research to provide audience measurement under a three-year deal, allowing the games' viewership on Prime Video, Twitch, out-of-home, and on local broadcast stations to be tabulated in the Nielsen ratings.<ref>{{cite web |last=Hayes |first=Dade |date=August 16, 2022 |title=Nielsen, Amazon Seal 'Thursday Night Football' Ratings Pact; Numbers To Include Out-Of-Home, Twitch And Local TV Viewing |url=https://deadline.com/2022/08/nielsen-amazon-nfl-thursday-night-football-ratings-deal-out-of-home-twitch-local-tv-viewing-1235092765/ |access-date=2022-08-25 |work=Deadline Hollywood}}</ref>
Amazon carried a preseason game on August 25, 2022, featuring the San Francisco 49ers at the Houston Texans.<ref name=":1" /> The first regular season game on September 15, 2022 featured the Los Angeles Chargers at the Kansas City Chiefs.<ref>{{cite news |date=April 28, 2022 |title=Chiefs-Chargers will face off in Amazon's Thursday Night Football opener |website=Pro Football Talk |url=https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2022/04/28/chiefs-chargers-will-face-off-in-thursday-night-football-opener/ |access-date=May 1, 2022}}</ref> Nielsen reported an average of 13 million viewers across all measured platforms, which were in line with the average numbers that were garnered by Fox's ''Thursday Night Football'' broadcasts in the 2021 season, and an increase of five million over that year's season opener (which was an NFL Network-exclusive game).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Contes |first=Brandon |date=2022-09-22 |title=Amazon Prime Thursday Night Football draws massive rating |url=https://awfulannouncing.com/amazon/amazon-prime-thursday-night-football-rating.html |access-date=2022-09-22 |website=Awful Announcing |language=en-US}}</ref>
On October 18, 2022, the NFL announced that ''Thursday Night Football'' would add a Friday afternoon game on the Friday after Thanksgiving beginning in 2023; ''Thursday Night Football'' had taken Thanksgiving week off since. The game will compete directly with the long-standing slate of college football games held on the Friday after Thanksgiving.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lucia |first=Joe |date=2022-10-18 |title=The NFL has officially announced its Black Friday game for 2023, streaming on Prime Video |url=https://awfulannouncing.com/nfl/the-nfl-has-officially-announced-its-black-friday-game-for-2023-streaming-on-prime-video.html |access-date=2022-10-18 |website=Awful Announcing |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name="Amazon Black Friday">{{cite web |date=October 18, 2022 |title=Prime Video to stream 'Black Friday' NFL game in 2023 |url=https://www.nfl.com/news/prime-video-to-stream-black-friday-nfl-game-in-2023 |website=NFL.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Paulsen |date=2023-03-09 |title=News: WNBA, Black Friday NFL, Van Gundy and more |url=https://www.sportsmediawatch.com/2023/03/wnba-primetime-abc-first-time-amazon-black-friday-nfl-free-van-gundy-ncaa/ |access-date=2023-03-11 |website=Sports Media Watch |language=en-US}}</ref> ''Thursday Night Football'' had gone on hiatus during Thanksgiving week since 2012, as the Thanksgiving primetime game had been reassigned to the ''Sunday Night Football'' package.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hayes |first=Dade |date=2023-11-22 |title=As First Black Friday Game Nears Kickoff, Prime Video And NFL Eye New Postprandial Pigskin Tradition |url=https://deadline.com/2023/11/black-friday-nfl-game-prime-video-nfl-holiday-streaming-1235634196/ |access-date=2023-11-22 |website=Deadline |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name="Newsday_NewTVContract" /> As an e-commerce company, the game is expected to leverage a captive audience of holiday shoppers for "Black Friday" as a potential audience, including the potential for advertising retail products and "Cyber Monday" promotions. The strategy is comparable to Prime Video's acquisition of Premier League soccer fixtures in early-December in the United Kingdom, which similarly leverages holiday shopping activity.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bridge |first=Gavin |date=2022-10-24 |title=Understanding Amazon's Drive for Black Friday NFL Rights |url=https://variety.com/vip/understanding-amazons-drive-for-black-friday-nfl-rights-1235411316/ |access-date=2023-05-15 |website=Variety |language=en-US}}</ref>
On March 28, 2023, following an underwhelming slate of games for the 2022 season that led to a 46% drop in viewership, significant changes were made in response to Amazon's demands for more compelling games. Starting in the 2023 season, teams are not required to have a Thursday game following a Sunday, while teams can play up to two Thursday games following a Sunday game per season. The league also approved the option of flexing Sunday games into Thursday despite overwhelming opposition from players and coaches. Up to two games from weeks 13 through 17 can be flexed with 28 days advanced notice, up from 15 days that was originally proposed. Since 2025, the flex timetable for ''TNF'' games was reduced to 21 days before kickoff. Additionally, only games between teams that have not played two Thursday games are eligible to be flexed and the same team can’t be flexed both times.<ref>{{Cite web |last=DeArdo |first=Bryan |date=2023-03-29 |title=Thursday Night Football: NFL approves allowing teams to play two games on short weeks, tables flex scheduling |url=https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/thursday-night-football-nfl-approves-allowing-teams-to-play-two-games-on-short-weeks-tables-flex-scheduling/ |access-date=2024-09-22 |website=CBSSports.com |language=en}}</ref> In Week 16 was the first game flexed in TNF history for a rivalry game between the Browns–Bengals replace in favor of Broncos–Chargers game. In 2025, when Christmas Day falls on a Thursday, TNF will air their traditional game on Christmas night. In 2026, when Christmas Day falls on a Friday, TNF is likely to air their traditional game on Thursday, Christmas Eve.
In early 2026, Amazon announced record high viewership for its schedule in the 2025 regular season. Games averaged 15.3 million viewers per game, from a total of 122 million total unique viewers.<ref name=":6">{{Cite news |last=Palmeri |first=Christopher |date=2026-01-05 |title=Amazon Says 'Thursday Night Football' Season Was Most Watched Ever |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-01-05/-thursday-night-football-season-was-most-watched-ever-amazon |access-date=2026-01-05 |work=Bloomberg.com |language=en}}</ref>
==Coverage == ===Game announcers=== The initial NFL Network team consisted of HBO Sports' Bryant Gumbel as play-by-play announcer, NBC Sports' Cris Collinsworth as the color commentator for the Thursday telecasts, and Dick Vermeil replacing Collinsworth for Saturday telecasts. In 2007, Collinsworth replaced Vermeil alongside Gumbel for all games.
Gumbel left the network after the 2007 season and his then-HBO colleague Bob Papa, who is also the radio voice of the New York Giants, was brought in to replace him. Collinsworth stayed on until the end of the 2008 season, then left to take over for the retiring John Madden as lead analyst on ''NBC Sunday Night Football''. NFL Network replaced him with Matt Millen, who returned to broadcasting in 2009, and then added former ESPN analyst Joe Theismann for 2010.
For 2011, then ESPN and now CBS play-by-play man Brad Nessler took over the Thursday night broadcast. He was joined by NFL Network draft analyst and NBC Notre Dame color man Mike Mayock, and the pairing spent three seasons calling games.
As a result of CBS taking over production responsibilities for the ''TNF'' broadcasts, its lead broadcast team of Jim Nantz and Phil Simms took over the broadcast booth.<ref name=usatoday-nflcbs/> With NBC adding games in 2016, Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth, the broadcast team of ''NBC Sunday Night Football'', were required under league contract to do the same. NBC had initially hired former ''Monday Night Football'' play-by-play man Mike Tirico for Thursdays before the league nixed the idea of any separate broadcast teams for Sunday and Thursday nights.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Raissman |first=Bob |date=2016-08-20 |title=Al Michaels, not Mike Tirico, will be calling NFL games on Thursday for NBC |url=https://www.nydailynews.com/2016/08/20/al-michaels-not-mike-tirico-will-be-calling-nfl-games-on-thursday-for-nbc/ |access-date=2025-01-12 |website=New York Daily News |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Burrows |first=Ben |date=2016-08-20 |title=NFL rejects NBC's plan to use SU grad Mike Tirico on 'Thursday Night Football' |url=https://www.syracuse.com/sports/2016/08/nfl_wont_let_tirico_call_tnf.html |access-date=2025-01-12 |website=syracuse |language=en}}</ref> As a result, Tirico called two NBC-produced ''Thursday Night Special'' game broadcasts on December 18 and Christmas Day, respectively, both alongside former USFL and NFL quarterback Doug Flutie, who serves as the color commentator for NBC's college football coverage as well to fill-in for Al and Cris.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2016-08-29 |title=Tirico, Flutie to call a pair of Thursday night games |url=https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootballtalk/rumor-mill/news/tirico-flutie-to-call-a-pair-of-thursday-night-games |access-date=2025-01-12 |website=NBC Sports |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2016-08-29 |title=NBC, THE ONLY NETWORK WITH TWO PRIMETIME NFL PACKAGES, NAMES BROADCAST TEAMS FOR 2016 NFL SEASON |url=https://www.nbcsports.com/pressbox/nfl/press-releases/nbc-the-only-network-with-two-primetime-nfl-packages-names-broadcast-teams-for-2016-nfl-season |access-date=2025-01-12 |website=NBC Sports |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Axe |first=Brent |date=2016-11-16 |title=Syracuse University alum Mike Tirico to call NFL games on NBC |url=https://www.syracuse.com/axeman/2016/11/syracuse_alum_mike_tirico_to_call_nfl_games_on_nbc.html |access-date=2025-01-12 |website=syracuse |language=en}}</ref> Subsequently, Tirico eventually called three ''Sunday Night Football'' games, including the Thanksgiving night game which is in the ''SNF'' package, in order for NBC to allow Michaels over a week's rest before the end of the season and also the December 22, 2016 ''TNF'' game alongside Collinsworth.<ref name="wp-tnfnbccbs"/><ref>{{Cite web |last=Perez |first=A. J. |date=November 16, 2016 |title=Mike Tirico to replace Al Michaels on four NFL broadcasts on NBC |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/2016/11/16/mike-tirico-nfl-nbc-al-michaels/93956764/ |access-date=2025-01-12 |website=USA TODAY |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Bonesteel |first=Matt |date=November 16, 2016 |title=NBC shakes up its NFL announcing teams for four games |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/early-lead/wp/2016/11/16/mike-tirico-will-replace-al-michaels-for-four-nbc-games/ |access-date=January 12, 2025 |newspaper=Washington Post}}</ref> On May 31, 2017, it was announced that Tirico would replace Michaels full-time for NBC's ''Thursday Night Football'' games.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Patra |first=Kevin |date=May 31, 2017 |title=Mike Tirico will call 'Thursday Night Football' for NBC |url=https://www.nfl.com/news/mike-tirico-will-call-thursday-night-football-for-nbc-0ap3000000812387 |access-date=2025-01-12 |website=NFL.com |language=en-US}}</ref> For 2017, Kurt Warner similarly filled in for Collinsworth on two non-Thursday games.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lott |first=Thomas |date=2017-12-05 |title=Kurt Warner to replace Cris Collinsworth on NBC for two upcoming NFL games {{!}} Sporting News Canada |url=https://www.sportingnews.com/ca/nfl/news/nfl-nbc-sports-kurt-warner-mike-tirico-two-games-lions-bears-steelers-texans/186xz21srrs5k1hszy9gxeuz5u |access-date=2025-01-12 |website=www.sportingnews.com |language=en-ca}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Putterman |first=Alex |date=2017-12-05 |title=Kurt Warner will call two upcoming games for NBC in place of Cris Collinsworth |url=https://awfulannouncing.com/nfl/kurt-warner-nfl-network-nbc-cris-collinsworth.html |access-date=2025-01-12 |website=Awful Announcing |language=en-US}}</ref>
For 2017, CBS hired Tony Romo as its lead color commentator. Numerous complications needed to be resolved, namely Romo's reluctance to cover both Sunday and Thursday nights as required under the ''Thursday Night Football'' contract,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Daily/Morning-Buzz/2017/04/04/romo.aspx|title=Sources: Romo To Land With CBS; Could Replace Simms As Top Analyst|work=sportsbusinessdaily.com|last=Ourand|first=John|date=April 4, 2017|access-date=August 8, 2017}}</ref> and the fact that Simms remains under contract with CBS through the next several years.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2017/04/04/phil-simms-agent-multiple-years-left-on-contract|title=Phil Simms' agent: "Multiple years" left on contract|work=NBC Sports|last=Gantt|first=Darin|date=April 4, 2017|access-date=August 8, 2017}}</ref> However, the network confirmed via press release that Romo's duties would include Sunday and Thursday games and Simms joined ''The NFL Today'' studio team.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://cbspressexpress.com/cbs-sports/releases/view?id=47470|title=Tony Romo Joins CBS Sports as Lead NFL Game Analyst|work=CBS Sports|date=April 4, 2017|access-date=August 8, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |agency=Associated Press |date=2017-04-19 |title=No Longer an Analyst, Phil Simms Joins CBS's 'The NFL Today' |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/19/sports/football/phil-simms-joins-cbs-the-nfl-today.html |access-date=2025-01-12 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Breech |first=John |date=2017-04-19 |title=Phil Simms is headed to the CBS studio, will join 'The NFL Today' as analyst |url=https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/phil-simms-is-headed-to-the-cbs-studio-will-join-the-nfl-today-as-analyst/ |access-date=2025-01-12 |website=CBSSports.com |language=en}}</ref>
With ''TNF'' moving to Fox in 2018, the network announced that its top team of Joe Buck and Troy Aikman would call the games, after months of speculation that five-time NFL MVP Peyton Manning would be hired by the network to call their Thursday games. They were joined by Erin Andrews, who normally works with Buck and Aikman on Sundays alongside Kristina Pink and Mike Pereira, one of two rule analysts for Fox. In previous seasons prior to Fox's ''TNF'' contract, Buck did not call any NFL games during late October, working Major League Baseball playoff games instead. For 2018, none of Fox's scheduled MLB playoff broadcasts landed on a Thursday (Fox carried the NLCS and the World Series that year), so Buck continued to broadcast both sports, crisscrossing the country in seven cities over a 22-day period.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.stltoday.com/sports/baseball/professional/bustling-buck-kicks-off-his-marathon-sportscasting-run/article_10f6f349-dab9-5398-b9e9-7859df662ab4.html | title=Bustling Buck kicks off his marathon sportscasting run | first=Dan | last=Caesar | newspaper=St. Louis Post-Dispatch | date=October 11, 2018}}</ref> The following year, the Chiefs–Broncos telecast fell on the same evening as Game 4 of the ALCS, requiring Buck to leave New York City for Denver and Joe Davis to fill in on baseball.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.houstonchronicle.com/sports/astros/article/Joe-Buck-pulls-double-duty-on-ALCS-NFL-14517483.php|title=Joe Buck pulls double duty on ALCS, NFL|date=12 October 2019|newspaper=Houston Chronicle|access-date=13 October 2019 |last1=Barron |first1=By David }}</ref>
NFL Network has occasionally used non-Fox Sports broadcast teams for the games that air exclusively on that network. On October 14, 2018, the NFL announced via press release, that the ''NFL GameDay Morning'' studio team of Rich Eisen, Steve Mariucci, Kurt Warner, and Michael Irvin, would be calling the Eagles-Jaguars London Game on October 28. They were joined by Melissa Stark, who made her first appearance as a sideline reporter since ABC's coverage of Super Bowl XXXVII, and Peter Schrager, from Fox Sports, and NFL Network's ''Good Morning Football''. The network kept the four-man booth for the 2019 London Games.
For 2018 and 2019, NFL Network borrowed Mike Tirico from former ''TNF'' holder NBC to serve as play-by-play for the network's Saturday games (Browns-Broncos and Ravens-Chargers in 2018, and Bills-Patriots in 2019), and reunited him with Warner on color commentary. Tirico and Warner were joined by Schrager on the sidelines.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://buffalonews.com/2019/12/16/bills-steelers-game-is-weeks-top-rated-tv-program-tirico-warner-set-for-saturday-game-against-pats/|title = Bills-Steelers game is week's top-rated TV program; Tirico, Warner set for Saturday game against Pats| date=16 December 2019 }}</ref> The early Saturday games in 2018 (Texans-Jets and Redskins-Titans) were announced by the trio of Curt Menefee, Steve Mariucci, and Nate Burleson, with Stark on the sideline. Menefee and Mariucci were both dropped from Saturday coverage in 2019, as they were replaced by Eisen and Joe Thomas for Texans-Buccaneers, the early game of the tripleheader in 2019, while Fox's B-Team of Kevin Burkhardt, Charles Davis, and Pam Oliver called Rams-49ers, the third game of the 2019 Saturday tripleheader.
Tirico had been scheduled to call Saturday games again in 2020, but after Al Michaels failed to clear NBC protocols for COVID-19, Tirico was dispatched to ''Sunday Night Football'' and Joe Davis worked the Saturday broadcasts with Warner.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://touchdownwire.usatoday.com/2020/12/18/mike-tirico-replacing-al-michaels-on-browns-giants-due-to-covid-19-protocol-issues/|title=Mike Tirico replacing Al Michaels on Browns-Giants due to COVID-19 protocol issues|date=18 December 2020|publisher=USA Today|access-date=December 18, 2020}}</ref> In 2021 NFL London Game was produced by CBS with Greg Gumbel and Adam Archuleta, Joe Davis and Kurt Warner paired up again Raiders vs. Browns in week 15 and Colts vs. Cardinals in week 16, Kevin Burkhardt and Greg Olsen worked Colts vs. Patriots in week 15 and the ''TNF'' game between the 49ers and Titans in week 16.
After unsuccessfully attempting to lure Aikman away from Fox for ''TNF'' full-time (with both Buck and Aikman ultimately leaving Fox for ESPN and ''Monday Night Football'' instead), Amazon hired Al Michaels and ESPN college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit as its lead broadcast team.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Baca, Michael |date=March 23, 2022 |title=Al Michaels, Kirk Herbstreit announced as broadcast team for 'Thursday Night Football' on Prime Video |url=https://www.nfl.com/news/al-michaels-kirk-herbstreit-broadcast-team-thursday-night-football-prime-video |access-date=2022-03-23 |website=NFL.com |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name="adweek.com">{{Cite web |title=Report: Kaylee Hartung Leaving ABC to Become Amazon's Thursday Night Football Sideline Reporter |url=https://www.adweek.com/tvnewser/report-kaylee-hartung-leaving-abc-to-become-amazons-thursday-night-football-sideline-reporter/510332/ |access-date=2022-07-05 |website=www.adweek.com |date=3 July 2022 |language=en-US}}</ref> In July 2022, Amazon then added former ESPN and ABC News reporter Kaylee Hartung as its sideline reporter.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Rigdon |first=Jay |date=2022-07-21 |title=Kaylee Hartung officially announced as Amazon's Thursday Night Football sideline reporter |url=https://awfulannouncing.com/nfl/kaylee-hartung-officially-announced-as-amazons-thursday-night-football-sideline-reporter.html |access-date=2022-08-26 |website=Awful Announcing |language=en-US}}</ref> In January 2023, Hartung joined NBC News' The Today Show as a national correspondent.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Neumann |first=Sam |date=2024-09-12 |title=Kaylee Hartung on the 'coolest job in the world' working 'Thursday Night Football' and 'Today' |url=https://awfulannouncing.com/nfl/kaylee-hartung-thursday-night-football-today.html |access-date=2024-09-13 |website=Awful Announcing |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Futterman |first=Derek |date=2024-03-04 |title=Kaylee Hartung Balances 'Thursday Night Football' and NBC 'Today' {{!}} Barrett Media |url=https://barrettmedia.com/2024/03/04/kaylee-hartung-balances-thursday-night-football-and-nbc-today/ |access-date=2024-09-13 |website=barrettmedia.com |language=en-US}}</ref>
===Pregame coverage=== Each game telecast on NFL Network was preceded by ''NFL GameDay Kickoff'', which broadcast live from the site of each game and featured Colleen Wolfe as its host, with Joe Thomas, Michael Irvin, and Steve Smith Sr., or other NFL Network colleagues as analysts. The show generally begins two hours before game time (6:00 p.m. ET). NFL Network later introduced a second studio show earlier in the afternoon, ''TNF First Look'', hosted by Andrew Siciliano.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sportsvideo.org/2019/09/11/nfl-network-teams-with-fox-sports-in-second-year-of-thursday-night-football-partnership/|title=NFL Network Teams With Fox Sports in Second Year of Thursday Night Football Partnership|last=Hernandez|first=Kristian|website=Sports Video Group|date=11 September 2019|language=en|access-date=2020-01-17}}</ref>
CBS games were preceded by ''Thursday Night Kickoff'', hosted by James Brown, Bill Cowher, and Deion Sanders, and was simulcast on CBS and NFL Network. NBC games were preceded by ''Football Night in America'' (which was renamed in reference of the host city of the game, such as ''Football Night in Tampa''), hosted by Liam McHugh, Tony Dungy, and Rodney Harrison, and were likewise simulcast on NBC and NFL Network. NFL Network’s pregame crew typically joined the NBC and CBS crews for pregame coverage. NBC, CBS, Twitter (in 2016) and Amazon (in 2017) would join NFL Network’s pregame coverage at 7:30 p.m. Eastern Time during its games.<ref name=svg-tnfcbs/> This resulted in some controversy among viewers and the producers of syndicated programming in the locally programmed timeslot before network primetime, where the pre-game affects programs such as ''Wheel of Fortune'', ''Jeopardy!'' and ''Entertainment Tonight'' (all distributed by CBS's sister syndication division CBS Media Ventures), along with several other programs, which then require pre-emption or slotting on lower-profile alternate timeslots or stations to air in markets where they are carried by CBS, Fox, or NBC affiliates in order to accommodate the Thursday games.<ref name="wof-deadspin">{{cite news|title=How CBS And The NFL Teamed Up To Screw Wheel Of Fortune And Jeopardy!|url=http://deadspin.com/how-cbs-and-the-nfl-teamed-up-to-screw-wheel-of-fortune-1670315974|author=Timothy Burke|work=Deadspin|date=December 12, 2014|access-date=January 24, 2015}}</ref>
For Fox, game telecasts were preceded by ''Fox NFL Thursday''. In 2018, it was hosted with a fixed lineup hosted by Michael Strahan, with analysts Terry Bradshaw, Howie Long, and insider Jay Glazer.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2019-07-30|title=FOX Sports Announces Complete On-Air Lineup for 2019 NFL Season|url=https://www.foxsports.com/presspass/latest-news/2019/07/30/fox-sports-announces-complete-air-lineup-2019-nfl-season|access-date=2020-01-26|website=Fox Sports PressPass|language=en-US}}</ref> Unlike CBS and NBC, the NFL Network crew would not join Fox’s pregame coverage, as the latter’s pregame became the main pregame show for TNF. In 2019, Strahan remained host, but with Bradshaw and Long rotating as analyst, alongside analyst Tony Gonzalez, and insider Peter Schrager, serving as insider. Fox also signed Rob Gronkowski to make appearances on the program.<ref>{{Cite web|author=Allen Kim|title=Rob Gronkowski is back, but this time as an NFL analyst on FOX Sports|url=https://edition.cnn.com/2019/10/08/sport/rob-gronkowski-fox-sports-trnd/index.html|access-date=2021-01-13|website=CNN|date=8 October 2019 }}</ref> To accommodate Strahan's commitments to ABC's morning show ''Good Morning America'', the program was broadcast from New York City, with studio segments originating from Fox News Channel's studios rather than Fox Sports' Los Angeles studios.<ref>{{cite news|author=Neil Best|date=August 24, 2018|title=Fox moves NFL pregame to New York City to accommodate Michael Strahan's schedule|work=Newsday|url=https://www.newsday.com/sports/media/thursday-night-football-fox-strahan-q56158|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190616091406/https://www.newsday.com/sports/media/thursday-night-football-fox-strahan-1.20649819|url-status=live|archive-date=June 16, 2019}}</ref> Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the pre-game show moved to Los Angeles with Curt Menefee serving as main host. Strahan made remote appearances during the season due to his ''GMA'' commitments.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-09-10|title=Your 2020 NFL broadcast primer|url=https://awfulannouncing.com/nfl/your-2020-nfl-broadcast-primer.html|access-date=2021-01-13|website=Awful Announcing|language=en-US}}</ref> Gonzalez left Fox prior to the 2021 season to pursue other film and television projects.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Smith |first=Michael David |date=2021-07-16 |title=Report: Tony Gonzalez leaving FOX studio to pursue acting roles |url=https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2021/07/16/report-tony-gonzalez-leaving-fox-studio-to-pursue-acting-roles/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210716180439/https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2021/07/16/report-tony-gonzalez-leaving-fox-studio-to-pursue-acting-roles/ |archive-date=July 16, 2021 |access-date=2022-10-14 |website=ProFootballTalk |language=en-US}}</ref> thumb|Pregame Host's in 2023 Amazon's games are preceded by ''TNF Tonight'' and ''Thursday Night Kickoff'', which is hosted from the game site by Charissa Thompson, Tony Gonzalez, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Andrew Whitworth, and Richard Sherman, with contributions by Taylor Rooks and NFL Network's Ian Rapoport.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bumbaca |first=Chris |title=Ready for a fresh look on 'Thursday Night Football?' Here's what to expect on Amazon Prime Video. |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/media/2022/09/15/thursday-night-football-amazon-prime-video-details/10378681002/ |access-date=2022-09-16 |website=USA TODAY |language=en-US}}</ref> Marshawn Lynch also appears as part of a pre-recorded segment called "'N Yo' City", as does chef David Chang, who contributes to food-focused segments. Aqib Talib was also set to appear on the pregame show as well, but stepped down due to personal legal difficulties. Like CBS, NBC, and Fox, Prime Video's coverage is required to be picked up via over-the-air syndication in the markets of the teams that play each week.
===Radio coverage=== As with all other national games, Westwood One provides radio broadcasts of ''Thursday Night Football'' games as part of its national radio package for the NFL. Ian Eagle handles play-by-play, with Tony Boselli handling color analysis.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lucia |first=Joe |date=2022-09-08 |title=Your 2022 NFL broadcast primer |url=https://awfulannouncing.com/nfl/your-2022-nfl-broadcast-primer.html |access-date=2022-09-16 |website=Awful Announcing |language=en-US}}</ref>
==Game announcers== ===Television=== ===Current=== ====Game coverage==== * Al Michaels – play-by-play announcer (2022–present); NBC play-by-play (2016) * Kirk Herbstreit – color commentator (2022–present) * Kaylee Hartung – sideline reporter (2022–present)<ref name="adweek.com"/> * Terry McAulay – rules analyst (2022–present)
====Alternate broadcasts==== * Sam Schwartzstein – Prime Video Next Gen Stats analytics expert (2023–present)
====Pregame coverage==== * Charissa Thompson – pregame host (2022–present);<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=McDaniel |first=Mike |title=Report: Charissa Thompson Lands New NFL Broadcasting Job |url=https://www.si.com/nfl/2022/06/13/charissa-thompson-lands-thursday-night-football-job-with-amazon |access-date=2022-06-13 |magazine=Sports Illustrated |date=13 June 2022 |language=en-us}}</ref> Fox secondary host and contributor (2018-2021) * Tony Gonzalez – pregame analyst (2022–present); Fox fill-in studio analyst (2018); full-time studio analyst (2019–2020)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Thursday Night Football Kicks Off September 15 on Prime Video With Powerhouse AFC West Matchup, as Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs Host Herbert and the Los Angeles Chargers |url=http://press.amazonstudios.com/us/en/press-release/ithursday-night-footballi-kicks-off-september-15-o |access-date=2022-04-29 |website=press.amazonstudios.com |language=en-us}}</ref> * Ryan Fitzpatrick – pregame analyst (2022–present)<ref>{{Cite web |last=Alper |first=Josh |date=2022-06-21 |title=Ryan Fitzpatrick: Joining Amazon made a lot of sense for me |url=https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2022/06/21/ryan-fitzpatrick-joining-amzaon-made-a-lot-of-sense-for-me/ |access-date=2022-06-21 |website=ProFootballTalk |language=en-US}}</ref> * Andrew Whitworth – pregame analyst (2022–present)<ref>{{Cite web |last=Smith |first=Michael David |date=2022-06-28 |title=Amazon plans Thursday night studio roles for Andrew Whitworth, Aqib Talib |url=https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2022/06/28/amazon-plans-thursday-night-studio-roles-for-andrew-whitworth-aqib-talib/ |access-date=2022-06-28 |website=ProFootballTalk |language=en-US}}</ref> * Richard Sherman – pregame analyst (2022–present)<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-06-15 |title=Richard Sherman joins Amazon's 'Thursday Night Football' lineup, but still 'leaving door open' for NFL return |url=https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/34093416/richard-sherman-joins-amazon-thursday-night-football-lineup-leaving-door-open-nfl-return |access-date=2022-06-15 |website=ESPN.com |language=en}}</ref> * Marshawn Lynch - contributor (2022–present) * Taylor Rooks – contributor (2022–present) * David Chang - contributor (2023–present) * Ian Rapoport - insider (2025–present)
====Former==== * Kay Adams – fill-in play-by-play (2021) * Troy Aikman – Fox lead color commentator (2018–2021) * Adam Amin – Fox fill-in play-by-play (2020) * Erin Andrews – Fox sideline reporter (2018–2021) * Adam Archuleta – London color commentator (2021) * Dean Blandino – rules expert (2019–2021) * Terry Bradshaw – Fox studio analyst (2018, 2020); rotating studio analyst (2019, 2021) * Albert Breer - insider (2024) * James Brown – CBS lead studio host (2014–2017) * Joe Buck – Fox lead play-by-play (2018–2021) * Kevin Burkhardt – Fox fill-in play-by-play (2019; 2021) * Nate Burleson – fill-in color commentator (2018–2019) * Reggie Bush – Fox fill-in studio analyst (2019) * Maverick Carter – alternate broadcast announcer (2022–2023; select games) * Andrew Catalon – Prime Video/Twitch Saturday play-by-play (2020) * Fran Charles – NFLN studio host (2010) * Cris Collinsworth – NFLN color commentator (2006–2008); NBC Color Commentator (2016–2017) * Bob Costas – NBC studio host (2016) * Bill Cowher – CBS studio analyst (2014–2017) * Heather Cox – NBC sideline reporter (2016–2017) * Lindsay Czarniak – Fox fill-in sideline reporter (2020) * Charles Davis – Fox fill-in analyst (2019) * Joe Davis – Fox fill-in play-by-play (2020–2021) * Jenny Dell – CBS Fill-in sideline reporter (2014) * Dude Perfect – alternate broadcast announcers (2022–2023; select games) * Tony Dungy – NBC studio analyst and fill-in color commentator (2016–2017) * Ross Dyer – UK Feed/Amazon Prime Video Fill-in Play-by-Play (2017) * Ian Eagle – CBS Fill-in Play-by-Play (2014–2015) (Still calls TNF on the Radio) * Rich Eisen – Lead studio host (2006-2017); fill-in play-by-play (2018–2019) * Jamie Erdahl – CBS fill-in sideline reporter (2017) * Marshall Faulk – Analyst (2006–2017 Week 14) * Alex Flanagan – NFLN sideline reporter (2010–2013) * Doug Flutie – NBC fill-in color commentator (2016) * Jay Glazer – NFLN studio analyst (2010–2011); Fox insider (2018); contributor (2020–2021) * Trent Green – CBS Fill-in Color Commentator (2015–2017) * Bryant Gumbel – NFLN play-by-play (2006–2007) * Greg Gumbel – CBS fill-in play-by-play (2017); London play-by-play (2021; deceased) * Tom Hammond – NFLN substitute play-by-play (2007) * Scott Hanson – NFLN sideline reporter (2009) * Rodney Harrison – NBC studio analyst (2016–2017) * Dan Hellie – Fill-in studio host (2017) * Kara Henderson – NFLN studio host (2011) * ’Cousin’ Sal Iacono - Fox prognosticator (2019–2021) * Michael Irvin – studio analyst (2011–2021); fill-in color commentator (2018–2019) * LeBron James – alternate broadcast announcer (2022–2023; select games) * Jimmy Johnson – Fox contributor (2020) * Harry Kalas – NFLN sponsorship announcer (2006–2008; deceased) * Andrea Kremer - Prime Video alternate broadcast color commentator (2018-2022) * Howie Long – Fox studio analyst (2018); rotating studio analyst (2019, 2021); contributor (2020) * Steve Mariucci – studio analyst (2006–2019); fill-in color commentator (2018–2019) * Mike Mayock – NFLN color commentator (2011–2013) * Liam McHugh – Fill-in NBC studio host (2016); NBC studio host (2017) * Curt Menefee – NFLN fill-in play-by-play (2018); Fox lead studio host (2020–2021) * Matt Millen – NFLN color commentator (2009–2010) * Jim Mora – NFLN studio analyst (2010) * Jim Nantz – CBS lead play-by-Play (2014–2017) * Brad Nessler – NFLN play-by-play (2011–2013) * Pam Oliver – Fox fill-in sideline reporter (2019; 2021) * Greg Olsen – Fox rotating studio analyst and fill-in color commentator (2021) * Bob Papa – NFLN play-by-play (2008–2010) * Dan Patrick – NBC Fill-in studio host (2017) * Mike Pereira – Fox rules expert (2018–2021) * Kristina Pink – Fox sideline reporter (2018–2021) * Tom Rinaldi – fill-in sideline reporter (2021) * Paul Rivera – alternate broadcast announcer (2022–2023; select games) * Tony Romo – CBS lead color commentator (2017) * A.J. Ross – London sideline reporter (2021) * Mark Sanchez – Fox rotating studio analyst (2021) * Deion Sanders – NFLN/CBS studio analyst (2006–2017) * Warren Sapp – NFLN studio analyst (2008) * Adam Schefter – NFLN sideline reporter (2006–2008) * Mark Schlereth – Fox fill-in color commentator (2020) * Peter Schrager – fill-in sideline reporter (2018–2019; 2021); Fox insider (2019) * Sterling Sharpe – NFLN studio analyst (2010–2011) * Phil Simms – CBS lead color commentator (2014–2016) * Michael Smith – insider (2022–2023) * Steve Smith Sr. – studio analyst (2017–2021) * Melissa Stark – fill-in sideline reporter (2018–2021) * Hannah Storm - Prime Video alternate broadcast play-by-play (2018-2022) * Michael Strahan – Fox lead studio host (2018–2019); contributor (2020–2021) * Pat Summerall – NFLN sponsorship announcer (2009; deceased) * Joe Theismann – NFLN color commentator (2010) * Joe Thomas – studio analyst (2018–2021); fill-in studio analyst (2019) * Amber Theoharis – Fill-in studio host (2016–2017) * Mike Tirico – NBC fill-in studio host and play-by-play (2016); full-time play-by-play (2017); NFLN fill-in play-by-play (2018–2019) * Dick Vermeil – NFLN Saturday color commentator (2006) * Michael Vick – Fox fill-in studio analyst (2020) * Kurt Warner – NFLN studio analyst (2010–2011); fill-in color commentator (2017–2021) * Evan Washburn – CBS fill-in sideline reporter (2015) * Colleen Wolfe – studio host (2018–2021) * Tracy Wolfson – CBS lead sideline reporter (2014–2017) * Steve Wyche – fill-in sideline reporter (2021)
===Radio=== ====Current==== * Kevin Kugler – play-by-play (2025–present) * Devin McCourty – color commentator (2024–present) * Ross Tucker – color commentator (2024–present)
====Former==== * Bonnie Bernstein – sideline reporter (2006–2007) * Tony Boselli – color commentator (2015–2023) * Randy Cross – color commentator (2009) * Ian Eagle – play-by-play (2008–2024) * Dick Enberg – play-by-play (2006–2007)--deceased * Dennis Green – color commentator (2007–2008)--deceased * Mike Mayock – color commentator (2014) * Tim Ryan – color commentator (2015) Select Games * Sam Wyche – color commentator (2006)--deceased
==Results== {{Main|List of Thursday Night Football results (2006–present)}}
This table shows the National Football League teams' all-time standings for games played on ''Thursday Night Football''.
Standings are current as of Week 14 of the 2025 NFL season. <!-- Ties are counted as half a win. -->
{|class="wikitable sortable" !|Team||Games Played||Wins||Losses||Ties||Win Pct.||First Appearance||Most Recent Appearance |- |Indianapolis Colts |16||12||4|| ||.750 |{{dts|November 22, 2007}}<br>defeated Atlanta 31–13 |{{dts|October 6, 2022}}<br>defeated Denver 12-9 (OT) |- |Kansas City Chiefs |14||11||3|| ||.786 |{{dts|November 23, 2006}}<br>defeated Denver 19–10 |{{dts|November 29, 2024}}<br>defeated Las Vegas 19-17 |- |Pittsburgh Steelers |17||10||7|| ||.625 |{{dts|December 7, 2006}}<br>defeated Cleveland 27–7 |{{dts|October 16, 2025}}<br>lost to Cincinnati 33-31 |- |New York Jets |21||8||13|| ||.400 |{{dts|November 13, 2008}}<br>defeated New England 34–31 |{{dts|November 13, 2025}}<br>lost to New England 27-14 |- |Los Angeles Chargers** |16||9||7|| ||.500 |{{dts|December 4, 2008}}<br>defeated Oakland 34–7 |{{dts|October 23, 2025}}<br> defeated Minnesota 37-10 |- |Dallas Cowboys |19||13||6|| ||.706 |{{dts|December 16, 2006}}<br>defeated Atlanta 38–28 |{{dts|December 4, 2025}}<br>lost to Detroit 44-30 |- |Philadelphia Eagles |15||9||6|| ||.667 |{{dts|November 27, 2008}}<br>defeated Arizona 48–20 |{{dts|November 28, 2025}}<br>lost to Chicago Bears 24-15 |- |New York Giants |13||5||8|| ||.364 |{{dts|December 30, 2006}}<br>defeated Washington 34–28 |{{dts|October 9, 2025}}<br>defeated Philadelphia 34-17 |- |San Francisco 49ers |22||13||9|| ||.579 |{{dts|December 14, 2006}}<br>defeated Seattle 24–14 |{{dts|October 2, 2025}}<br>defeated L.A. Rams 26-23 (OT) |- |Denver Broncos |21||9||12|| ||.389 |{{dts|November 23, 2006}}<br>lost to Kansas City 19–10 |{{dts|November 6, 2025}}<br>defeated to Las Vegas 10–7 |- |Atlanta Falcons |15||10||5|| ||.643 |{{dts|December 16, 2006}}<br>lost to Dallas 38–28 |{{dts|October 3, 2024}}<br>defeated Tampa Bay 36–30 (OT) |- |Chicago Bears |17||9||8|| ||.533 |{{dts|December 6, 2007}}<br>lost to Washington 24–16 |{{dts|November 28, 2025}}<br>defeated Philadelphia Eagles 24-15 |- |Baltimore Ravens |18||13||5|| ||.706 |{{dts|November 30, 2006}}<br>lost to Cincinnati 13–7 |{{dts|October 30, 2025}}<br>defeated Miami 28-6 |- |Seattle Seahawks |17| 11||6||.647 |{{dts|December 14, 2006}}<br>lost to San Francisco 24–14 |{{dts|December 18, 2025}}<br>defeated [[Los Angeles Rams 38-37 (OT) |- |Green Bay Packers |15||10||5|| ||.692 |{{dts|December 21, 2006}}<br>defeated Minnesota 9–7 |{{dts|September 11, 2025}}<br>defeated Washington 27-18 |- |Arizona Cardinals |16||5||11|| ||.333 |{{dts|November 27, 2008}}<br>lost to Philadelphia 48–20 |{{dts|September 25, 2025}}<br>lost to Seattle 23-20 |- |Washington Commanders**** |12||5||7|| ||.455 |{{dts|December 30, 2006}}<br>lost to N.Y. Giants 34–28 |{{dts|September 11, 2025}}<br>lost to Green Bay 27-18 |- |New England Patriots |15||11||4|| ||.714 |{{dts|December 29, 2007}}<br>defeated N.Y. Giants 38–35 |{{dts|November 13, 2025}}<br>defeated N.Y. Jets 27-14 |- |Miami Dolphins |16||7||9|| ||.538 |{{dts|November 19, 2009}}<br>defeated Carolina 24–17 |{{dts|October 30, 2025}}<br>lost to Baltimore 28-6 |- |Detroit Lions |6||4||2|| ||.500 |{{dts|December 3, 2015}}<br>lost to Green Bay 27–23 |{{dts|December 4, 2025}}<br>defeated Dallas 44–30 |- |Houston Texans |14||6||8|| ||.385 |{{dts|December 13, 2007}}<br>defeated Denver 31–13 |{{dts|November 20, 2025}}<br> defeated Buffalo 23-19 |- |Las Vegas Raiders*** |17||8||9|| ||.500 |{{dts|December 23, 2006}}<br>lost to Kansas City 20–9 |{{dts|November 6, 2025}}<br> lost to Denver 10-7 |- |Cleveland Browns |16||9||7|| ||.563 |{{dts|December 7, 2006}}<br>lost to Pittsburgh 27–7 |{{dts|November 21, 2024}}<br>defeated Pittsburgh 24-19 |- |Cincinnati Bengals |14||6||8|| ||.385 |{{dts|November 30, 2006}}<br>defeated Baltimore 13–7 |{{dts|October 16, 2025}}<br>defeated Pittsburgh 33-31 |- |Carolina Panthers |17||6||11|| ||.353 |{{dts|December 22, 2007}}<br>lost to Dallas 20–13 |{{dts|November 9, 2023}}<br>lost to Chicago 16-13 |- |Jacksonville Jaguars |16||6||10|| ||.375 |{{dts|December 18, 2008}}<br>lost to Indianapolis 31–24 |{{dts|October 19, 2023}}<br>defeated New Orleans 31-24 |- |Tennessee Titans |15||6||9|| ||.400 |{{dts|December 25, 2009}}<br>lost to San Diego 42–17 |{{dts|November 2, 2023}}<br>lost to Pittsburgh 20-16 |- |New Orleans Saints |13||4||9|| ||.308 |{{dts|December 11, 2008}}<br>lost to Chicago 27–24 |{{dts|October 17, 2024}}<br>lost to Denver 33-10 |- |Buffalo Bills |14||7||7|| ||.455 |{{dts|December 3, 2009}}<br>lost to N.Y. Jets 19–13 |{{dts|November 20, 2025}}<br>lost to Houston 23-19 |- |Los Angeles Rams* |17||9||8|| ||.500 |{{dts|December 20, 2007}}<br>lost to Pittsburgh 41–24 |{{dts|October 2, 2025}}<br>lost to San Francisco 26–23 (OT) |- |Minnesota Vikings |11||3||8|| ||.333 |{{dts|December 21, 2006}}<br>lost to Green Bay 9–7 |{{dts|October 23, 2024}}<br>lost to L.A. Chargers 37-10 |- |Tampa Bay Buccaneers |16||4||12|| ||.267 |{{dts|December 17, 2011}}<br>lost to Dallas 31–15 |{{dts|October 3, 2024}}<br>lost to Atlanta 36-30 (OT) |- |- |} • *St. Louis Rams, 1995–2015
• **San Diego Chargers, 1961–2016
• ***Oakland Raiders, 1995–2019
• **** Washington Redskins, 1937-2019; Washington Football Team, 2020-2021
==Reception== ===Carriage=== Upon the original launch of the Thursday and Saturday night games, few television service providers carried the NFL Network due to disputes during the network's terms in its carriage contracts during negotiations. These disputes were magnified throughout the 2007 season, as two high-profile matchups were to be broadcast by the network. The first was a matchup between the Dallas Cowboys and Green Bay Packers which was scheduled for the week after Thanksgiving and saw both teams at 10–1, vying for the top seed in the NFC, and the second was Week 17 Saturday night game between the New England Patriots and the New York Giants, where the Patriots had a chance to become the first team since the 1972 Miami Dolphins to end a regular season undefeated.
In the first case, fans were displeased that a matchup between two teams at such a critical point in the season was not available on broadcast television except in the Dallas and Green Bay markets. To avoid such a problem with the potential sixteenth victory for the Patriots, CBS and NBC bought broadcast rights to the game so it could be seen by a nationwide audience on both cable and broadcast television. This ended up causing another controversy, however, as the move by the networks infringed on the exclusivity that would normally have been enjoyed by WWOR-TV in New York City and WCVB-TV in Boston, which were the Giants' and Patriots' respective local over-the-air broadcasters for cable-televised games (the game aired on these stations, as well as on WCBS-TV, WNBC, WBZ-TV and WHDH in the teams' market areas).<ref>{{cite news|title=COMMENTARY : Antitrust threat prompted NFL's reversal|url=http://www.nwanews.com/adg/Sports/212510/|author=Dusty Saunders|work=Rocky Mountain News|publisher=Arkansas Democrat-Gazette|date=January 2, 2008|access-date=January 4, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080210022945/http://www.nwanews.com/adg/Sports/212510/ <!-- Bot retrieved archive -->|archive-date=February 10, 2008}}</ref>
===Game quality and viewership=== ''Thursday Night Football'' games on NFL Network are among the lowest-rated nationally televised NFL broadcasts. Critics have argued that the games televised on ''Thursday Night Football'' have been of lower quality than other prime time games, as they often featured match-ups between lesser or poor-performing teams, and that the shortened rest between games triggered by Thursday games also has an effect on their overall quality.<ref name=sbj-strongslate/><ref name=br-hurting/> In an analysis by ''Sports on Earth'' writer Aaron Roberts, it was determined that most Thursday games were of average or above-average quality in comparison to normal, non-prime time games, but that this was "by design" due to the leverage of other NFL broadcasters on how games are scheduled throughout the season (which traditionally prioritizes "major" games for either late-afternoon or Sunday and Monday nights).<ref name=soe-notmustsee>{{cite web|title=By design, Thursday Night Football is merely average.|url=http://www.sportsonearth.com/article/63185200/thursday-night-football-in-the-national-football-league-isnt-always-popular|website=Sports On Earth|access-date=August 14, 2014}}</ref><ref name=sportsonearth-blights>{{cite web|title=Thursday Night Blights|url=http://www.sportsonearth.com/article/61721290|website=Sports On Earth|access-date=August 14, 2014|archive-date=August 13, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140813193444/http://www.sportsonearth.com/article/61721290/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
The move of selected games to CBS brought improved ratings: the inaugural game was the highest-rated program of the night, with an audience share of 13.7 and an average of 20.7 million viewers, representing a 108% increase in ratings over the first NFL Network game in 2013. The game, whose ratings were boosted by coverage of the Ray Rice scandal, also brought CBS its highest prime time ratings on a Thursday night since May 2006. While lower, at 9.6 million viewers, the Week 3 game between the Atlanta Falcons and Tampa Bay Buccaneers was also the highest-rated program of the night.<ref name=variety-tnfratings>{{cite web|title=CBS' 'Thursday Night Football' Easily Dominates Thursday Ratings|url=https://variety.com/2014/tv/news/cbs-thursday-night-football-easily-dominates-thursday-ratings-1201309246/|website=Variety|date=19 September 2014|publisher=Penske Media Company|access-date=September 21, 2014}}</ref><ref name=sbn-ratings>{{cite web|title='Thursday Night Football' ratings up from last year, down from last week|url=https://www.sbnation.com/nfl/2014/9/19/6526407/thursday-night-football-ratings-2014-2013|website=SBNation|date=19 September 2014|publisher=Vox Media|access-date=September 21, 2014}}</ref><ref name=usatoday-tnfcbsratings>{{cite news|title=CBS gets 13.7 rating, up 108 percent, for Ravens-Steelers|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/2014/09/12/cbs-thursday-night-rating-steelers-ravens/15504823/|work=USA Today|publisher=Gannett Company|access-date=September 21, 2014}}</ref><ref name=tbtri-week3>{{cite web|title=Bucs Turning Point, Week 3: Worst Thursday Night Football game ever|url=https://www.tampabay.com/sports/football/bucs/bucs-turning-point-week1603-worst-thursday-night-football-game-ever/2198471/|website=Tampa Bay Times|access-date=September 21, 2014}}</ref> The first four games of the package, however, featured blowout victories.<ref name=sn-mixedbag>{{cite news|title=Thursday Night Football a mixed bag in the TV ratings|url=http://www.sportingnews.com/nfl/story/2014-10-23/thursday-night-football-ratings-cbs-nfl-network|work=Sporting News|access-date=October 23, 2014}}</ref><ref name=chron-foster/> In total, average viewership of the games increased from around 7 million to around 11.8 million in the 2014 season.<ref name=si-cbs14ratings>{{cite magazine|title=Thursday Night Football package saw viewer increase this season|url=https://www.si.com/nfl/2015/01/07/nfl-viewership-2014-fox-espn-cbs-nbc|magazine=Sports Illustrated|date=7 January 2015 |access-date=January 18, 2015}}</ref>
Controversy over ratings and the quality of play in Thursday night contests escalated when on November 28, 2016, a report circulated that the league was considering ending the franchise. The NFL, however, denied this rumor.<ref name="variety-droppingtnf">{{cite web|title=NFL Denies Speculation About 'Thursday Night Football' Ending Amid Ratings Slump|url=https://variety.com/2016/tv/news/nfl-thursday-night-football-denies-speculation-ending-1201928169/|website=Variety|date=29 November 2016|access-date=5 December 2016}}</ref> The subsequent game on December 1, 2016 between the Dallas Cowboys and the Minnesota Vikings was the highest rated ''Thursday Night Football'' of the season.<ref name="thr-2016highnbc">{{cite web|title=TV Ratings: 'Thursday Night Football' Surges to Season High, CW Crossover Stays Strong|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/tv-ratings-thursday-night-football-surges-season-high-952185|work=The Hollywood Reporter|date=2 December 2016|access-date=5 December 2016}}</ref><ref name="deadline-tnfcowboys">{{cite web|title=Dallas Cowboys Rustle Up Big NFL 'Thursday Night Football' Numbers|url=https://deadline.com/2016/12/nfl-dallas-cowboys-thursday-football-dc-legends-of-tomorrow-ratings-1201863392/|website=Deadline.com|date=2 December 2016|access-date=5 December 2016}}</ref>
During the 2016 season, current and former players including Richard Sherman,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.theplayerstribune.com/richard-sherman-seahawks-thursday-night-football/|title=Why I Hate Thursday Night Football - The Players' Tribune|date=15 December 2016}}</ref> J. J. Watt,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2016/09/21/j-j-watt-thursday-night-games-are-very-difficult/|title=J.J. Watt: Thursday night games are "very difficult"|date=21 September 2016}}</ref> and Charles Woodson<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mercurynews.com/2016/12/06/thursday-night-football-a-bad-idea-that-isnt-going-anywhere/|title=NFL's Thursday night football: A bad idea here to stay|date=6 December 2016}}</ref> expressed their dislikes for Thursday Night Football, with Richard Sherman calling it a "poopfest".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.si.com/nfl/2016/12/13/richard-sherman-thursday-night-football-poopfest-criticism|title=Richard Sherman rips Thursday Night Football: 'Poopfest'|first=SI|last=Wire|date=13 December 2016 }}</ref>
The September 20, 2018 game between the New York Jets and Cleveland Browns, which saw the debut of Cleveland's first overall pick Baker Mayfield, as well as the team breaking a nearly two-year losing streak, set a record for the highest-rated NFL Network-exclusive broadcast in ''Thursday Night Football'' history, with a 5.2 household rating and over 8 million viewers.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://awfulannouncing.com/league-networks/jets-browns-nfln-highest-rated-tnf-since-2015.html|title=Jets-Browns was NFL Network's highest-rated, most-watched Thursday night game since December 2015|date=2018-09-21|work=Awful Announcing|access-date=2018-09-21|language=en-US}}</ref>
Criticism of Thursday night game quality intensified during and after the 2022 NFL season, the first season in which TNF games were broadcast exclusively by Amazon Prime. For example, an overwhelming number of NFL fans, commentators, and former players reacted negatively to an October 6, 2022 game in which the Indianapolis Colts and Denver Broncos punted 12 times, threw four combined interceptions, and scored zero combined touchdowns in over 60 minutes of gameplay.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/07/sport/denver-broncos-indianapolis-colts-tnf-nfl-spt-intl/index.html|title='Let's cut to another game': Social media reacts to lackluster Broncos-Colts game on Thursday Night Football|date=2022-10-07|work=CNN|access-date=2023-11-09|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.si.com/extra-mustard/2022/10/07/nfl-world-collectively-groans-broncos-colts-goes-overtime|title=NFL World Collectively Groans As Broncos-Colts Goes to OT|date=2022-10-07|magazine=Sports Illustrated|access-date=2023-11-09|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://heavy.com/sports/denver-broncos/broncos-and-colts-worst-nfl-game-ever/|title= Did The Broncos and Colts Just Play The Worst NFL Game Ever?|date=2022-10-07|work=Heavy.com|access-date=2023-11-09|language=en-US}}</ref> The criticism was even shared among those working to deliver the Thursday night games to a national audience. For example, after the conclusion of the 2022 regular season, Al Michaels, the full time play-by-play announcer for TNF, commented on his experience calling TNF games and said, “I mean, you just can’t oversell something. Do you want me to sell you a 20-year-old Mazda? That’s what you’re asking me to do. I can’t sell you a used car." In the same interview, Michaels even referenced the aforementioned Week 5 contest between Indianapolis and Denver as a primary example of a suboptimal game that he had to call and described the game as "dreadful."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Al Michaels likens calling this season's Amazon TNF games to selling a 'used car'|url=https://awfulannouncing.com/amazon/al-michaels-thursday-night-football-bad-games-used-car.html|access-date=November 9, 2023|website=Awful Announcing|date=13 January 2023 |language=en-US}}</ref> The following offseason, the NFL enabled flexible scheduling for Thursday night games, which the league had previously balked at.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nfl.com/news/nfl-owners-approve-modified-proposal-for-flexing-thursday-night-football-games|title=NFL owners approve modified proposal for flexing Thursday Night Football games|date=2023-05-22|work=NFL.com|access-date=2023-11-09|language=en-US}}</ref>
===Player safety=== As mentioned, a team needing to play a Thursday night game can result in a shortened rest period for players between games.<ref name=sbj-strongslate/><ref name=br-hurting/> On October 6, 2014, Arian Foster, then of the Houston Texans, made a statement considering it hypocritical for the NFL to emphasize the safety of players (particularly in regards to concussions) while allowing its players to play a game on only three days' rest, which he considered to be equally "dangerous".<ref name=chron-foster>{{cite news|title=Texans' Arian Foster says NFL Thursday night games are dangerous, hypocritical|url=http://blog.chron.com/ultimatetexans/2014/10/texans-arian-foster-rips-thursday-night-games-calls-them-annoying-for-players/#27282103=0&27288101=|author=Brian Smith|work=The Houston Chronicle|date=October 6, 2014|access-date=October 6, 2014}}</ref> Richard Sherman of the Seattle Seahawks has also voiced displeasure about Thursday night games reducing prep time, and wrote a 2016 editorial for ''The Players' Tribune'' about the games.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theplayerstribune.com/richard-sherman-seahawks-thursday-night-football/|title=Why I Hate Thursday Night Football|last=Sherman|first=Richard|date=14 December 2016|work=The Players' Tribune|access-date=15 November 2017}}</ref> Sherman's 2017 season (and his run with the Seahawks; he would sign a new deal with the San Francisco 49ers in the 2018 off-season) would end on November 9, 2017 during a Thursday night game against the Arizona Cardinals, when he ruptured his Achilles tendon.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.si.com/nfl/2017/11/09/arizona-cardinals-seattle-seahawks-richard-sherman-injury|title=Seahawks CB Richard Sherman Out for Year With Ruptured Achilles|last=Carroll|first=Charlotte|date=9 November 2017|magazine=Sports Illustrated|access-date=15 November 2017}}</ref> Sherman would later go on to become a pregame and postgame analyst for Amazon Prime's Thursday Night Football.
On January 29, 2015, the NFL released its health and safety report, which states that an average of 4.8 injuries were sustained during Thursday games compared to 6.9 injuries per game on Sundays and Mondays.<ref>{{cite news|title=NFL health and safety report says concussions, ACLs are down|url=http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/01/29/nfl-health-and-safety-report-says-concussions-acls-are-down/|author=Darin Gantt|work=Pro Football Talk|date=January 29, 2015|access-date=January 30, 2015}}</ref>
During their September 29, 2022 game against the Cincinnati Bengals, Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa hit the ground with his left elbow, back and back of his helmet after taking a sack. Tagovailoa demonstrated a fencing response, and was stretchered off the field and transported to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center with head and neck injuries. He was discharged from the hospital later that night.<ref>{{cite web |title=Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa discharged from hospital Thursday after suffering concussion vs. Bengals |url=https://www.nfl.com/news/dolphins-qb-tua-tagovailoa-exits-thursday-s-game-after-suffering-apparent-head-i |access-date=30 September 2022 |website=NFL.com}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{cite news |last1=Schwab |first1=Frank |title=Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa carted off after being slammed down to the turf |url=https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/news/dolphins-qb-tua-tagovailoa-carted-off-after-being-slammed-down-to-the-turf-013137722.html |access-date=30 September 2022 |website=Yahoo Sports}}</ref> The game took place only four days after the Dolphins' previous game against Buffalo, where Tagovailoa was briefly taken out of the game due to a head injury (initially reported by the team as a back injury), but returned to the game afterward. That decision prompted an investigation by the NFLPA as a possible violation of concussion protocol;<ref name=":3" /><ref>{{cite web |last1=Daniels |first1=Tim |title=Dolphins' Tua Tagovailoa Stretchered Off, Taken to Hospital with Head, Neck Injuries |url=https://bleacherreport.com/articles/10050631-espn-injured-dolphins-qb-tua-tagovailoa-in-good-spirits-after-leaving-hospital |access-date=30 September 2022 |website=Bleacher Report}}</ref> the NFL stated there were indications that the concussion protocol had been followed in this case.<ref name=":4">{{Cite news |last=Belson |first=Ken |date=2022-09-30 |title=N.F.L.'s Concussion Protocol Under Scrutiny After Tagovailoa Is Hit Hard Again |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/30/sports/tua-tagavailoa-nfl-concussion-protocol.html |access-date=2022-10-01 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> The NFL faced scrutiny over its concussion policy following the game, with critics arguing that Tagovailoa should not have been cleared to play at all (especially with the shortened rest between the games and the multiple injuries); the league's chief medical officer Allen Sills stated that "we want to be thorough, and we want to be consistent and be fair to everyone involved and make sure that we have all the data on hand before we reach a final determination."<ref name=":4" /><ref>{{Cite news |title=Tua Tagovailoa's head injury spurs scrutiny of NFL concussion protocol |language=en-US |newspaper=Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2022/09/30/tua-concussion-protocol-nfl/ |access-date=2022-10-01 |issn=0190-8286}}</ref>
The injury also prompted discussions over how such situations should be handled during broadcasts, as Amazon faced criticism for airing multiple, graphic replays of the injury during the telecast, and limiting discussion of the event during the halftime show. The first injury was discussed during a segment of the pre-game show, and acknowledged by color commentator Kirk Herbstreit after the second injury. A more extensive discussion did occur during the post-game show, where reporter Michael Smith stated that "I think there’s room for both concern for Tua — and frustration and outrage." ESPN analyst Cris Canty argued that the lack of discussion at halftime was an example of the NFL "protecting its own interest", while NBC Sports ''ProFootballTalk'' analyst Michael David Smith felt it was hypocritical of Richard Sherman to have signed with Amazon to join the ''Thursday Night Football'' studio panel, despite his previous criticisms of the games over player safety.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Shea |first=Bill |title=How Amazon handled Tua Tagovailoa's injury: Replays, commentary and the criticism that followed |url=https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/3645433/2022/09/30/amazon-tua-tagovailoa-injury/ |access-date=2022-10-01 |website=The Athletic |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=2022-09-30 |title=Tua Tagovailoa's injury renews debate over how broadcasts handle concussions |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/09/30/tua-tagovailoa-injury-amazon |access-date=2022-10-01 |newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=McCarthy |first=Michael |date=2022-09-30 |title=Amazon Blasted For Tua Tagovailoa Concussion Coverage |url=https://frontofficesports.com/tua-tagovailoa-miami-dolphins-concussion-amazon/ |access-date=2022-10-01 |website=Front Office Sports |language=en}}</ref>
==Notes== {{notelist}}
==See also== * ''NFL on Fox'' * ''NFL on CBS'' * ''NFL on NBC'' * ''NBC Sunday Night Football'' * ''Monday Night Football''
==References== {{Reflist|30em}}
==External links== * {{Official website|http://www.nfl.com/tnf}} * {{Official website|http://www.nbcsports.com/thursday-night-football|''Thursday Night Football'' on NBC}} * {{IMDb title|1237194}}
{{s-start}} {{succession box|before=ESPN| title=NFL ''Thursday Night Football'' broadcaster| years=2006–present<br>(with CBS from 2014 to 2017)<br>(with NBC from 2016 to 2017)<br>(with Fox from 2018 to 2021)| after=Amazon Prime Video}} {{s-end}}
{{Thursday Night Football}} {{National Football League}} {{NFL Network}} {{NFL on CBS}} {{NFL on NBC}} {{NFL on Fox}} {{National Football League on television and radio}}
Category:Thursday Night Football Category:2006 American television series debuts Category:2000s American sports television series Category:2010s American sports television series Category:2020s American sports television series Category:Amazon Prime Video original programming Category:CBS original programming Category:CBS Sports Category:NFL on NBC Category:NBC original programming Category:Fox Broadcasting Company original programming Category:NFL Network original programming Category:Simulcasts