The NFL and NBA have made Christmas Day a ratings battleground, even if football has slaughtered basketball. On the day that officially starts the Christmas shopping season (which now unofficially starts weeks earlier), the NFL and NBA will be united through a common broadcast partner.
Via Variety.com, Amazon Prime will stream both an NFL game and an NBA game on Black Friday 2025.
Next year, Amazon Prime embarks on its first deal to broadcast NBA games.
Due to the NFL’s antitrust exemption, its games can’t be televised after 6:00 p.m. ET on any Friday from the second weekend in September through the second weekend in December. So the NFL game on Black Friday starts at 3:00 p.m. ET. That gives the rest of the evening for one or two NBA games — with the NFL handing a potentially massive audience to the basketball game(s).
The NFL might want something from Amazon in exchange for boosting NBA viewership. One, because it’s arguably fair to make the request, under the circumstances. And, two, because the NFL pretty much always wants something.
