The inaugural Black Friday NFL game on Amazon’s Prime Video streaming service is set to be a smash hit for advertisers, according to a new analysis from EDO.
Based on Thanksgiving NFL viewership projections and historical NFL ad engagement, we estimate that the average ad during the game will deliver over $1.3 million in media value for participating brands.
EDO defines engagement as the lift in consumer intent behaviors, such as searching for a brand online, in the minutes after an ad airs. These engagement behaviors indicate that a consumer has moved from merely being aware of a brand to actively considering a purchase — and research has consistently linked these behaviors to increased sales and market share.
Given that even the most expensive regular-season sports ads cost significantly less than $1 million, it’s likely that advertisers will reap a powerful return on investment from the Black Friday contest between the New York Jets and Miami Dolphins.
NFL audiences + a holiday weekend + established streaming platform = huge engagement
For advertisers, the strength of the Black Friday game can be attributed to three key trends: the overwhelming popularity of the NFL, the highly engaged audiences we’ve seen during holiday sports programming, and a streaming environment that makes consumers more likely to engage with the brands they see.
Far from serving as background noise at family gatherings, EDO’s research found that holiday sports events are highly effective at generating consumer engagement. Last year, consumers were 12% more likely to engage with brands advertised during live sports on Black Friday than the rest of the day’s programming on a per-person, per-second basis — and 32% more likely to engage with these Black Friday matchups than the rest of last winter’s programming through December.
The power of live holiday sports only becomes even more formidable when combined with the NFL, which consistently ranks as TV's most-watched, most-engaging programming. Retail brands that advertised during Thanksgiving week NFL games last year saw a whopping 314% increase in total TV-driven engagements from their NFL advertising the previous week.
The streaming environment on Amazon’s Prime Video further amplifies impact for brands. Because changing apps on TV takes more time and intent than changing channels, consumers are more likely to watch and engage with ads. During the 2022-23 NFL season — Amazon’s first year airing Thursday Night Football — NFL games on Prime Video were 116% more effective at driving consumer engagement than the primetime average.
EDO is your home for NFL TV advertising intel
EDO’s real-time TV outcomes data empowers advertisers to confidently predict the impact of their linear and streaming TV ads before they air. And we’ll be sharing the insights we glean from this data throughout the NFL season.
Whether you’re looking to learn how your brand stacks up against the competition, which matchups drive the most engagement, or even the impact of Taylor Swift on NFL advertising — we’ve got you covered. Of course, we’ll also have a full preview and recap of the big Black Friday game on Who Won the Week? — our weekly live sports and advertising video series.
So far, all the data points to a big Black Friday victory for advertisers, Amazon, and the NFL. Jets fans? Maybe not so much.