The idea of a streaming-only Super Bowl was unthinkable as recently as three years ago. Now, there are plenty of people who see it as a foregone conclusion, including a very high-ranking Amazon executive.
Back in 2021, former ESPN and Meadowlark Media executive John Skipper predicted that a paywalled Super Bowl was in our future, but many scoffed. By 2024, with streaming services already dipping their toes into NFL playoff one-offs and Prime Video acquiring Thursday Night Football, Skipper got even more specific, predicting that a streaming-only Super Bowl was less than a decade away. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has even admitted “anything is possible” when asked about a streaming-only Super Bowl in the 2030s, and it’s understood that the league is open to at least discussing it.
One person who has long been at the center of the push for a streaming-only Super Bowl is Jay Marine, Amazon’s head of Prime Video U.S., global sports & advertising. He’s been preaching optimism about the possibility for a few years now.
Marine spoke with The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand this week and discussed how, in a short amount of time, the streamer has become home to Thursday Night Football, NBA conference finals, and part of the Masters.
“For us, our ambition has always been to broadcast the absolute best, the pinnacle of live sports,” Marine said. “We never thought we wouldn’t do that in the fullness of time.”
As for the white whale of live sports broadcasting, Marine offered a similar rhetoric.
“In the fullness of time, I absolutely expect that will happen,” Marine said of a Super Bowl on Prime Video. “Our desire is for that to happen in the fullness of time.”
Marchand pressed the Amazon exec to define what that means a bit more clearly.
“I think it’s pretty self-explanatory,” the 52-year-old Marine responded. “How about: I’m still walking on this earth. How about that?”
Given how quickly things have moved in the worlds of NFL media rights and streamers landing major sporting events, that sounds entirely plausible from where we sit.
Of course, there is one major concern the NFL must consider. By removing the Super Bowl from network television, it could run afoul of a growing, bipartisan concern over the league’s sweeping antitrust exemptions. Certainly, if they are going to make a move like this, it won’t happen while the current administration is in power. And if and when it does, there’s no way they’ll be allowed to put it behind a paywall… right?
About Sean Keeley
Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Managing Editor for Comeback Media. Previously, he created the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and wrote 'How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way to Brainwash Your Child Into Rooting for Syracuse.' He has also written non-Syracuse-related things for SB Nation, Curbed, and other outlets. He currently lives in Seattle where he is complaining about bagels. Send tips/comments/complaints to sean@thecomeback.com.