For the second time in NFL history, a playoff game will be available only through streaming. On Saturday night at 8 p.m. ET, the Baltimore Ravens will host the Pittsburgh Steelers, and the game will be streamed exclusively on Prime Video after Amazon secured the rights in February.
Amazon has been streaming NFL games since 2017, but this is the first time they’ve had exclusive rights to a playoff game. Previously, Amazon streamed two wild-card games, but those were simulcasts of games also shown on CBS.
Under the current media deal, the six wild-card games are split among CBS, Fox, NBC, and ESPN, with each network getting one game. The fifth wild-card game rotates each year among these networks, and this year, CBS will air two games while the others will air one each.
The sixth wild-card game is up for bid, and NBC won the rights last year for $110 million to air it exclusively on Peacock. This was the first time in NFL history that a playoff game was available only on a streaming platform.
Before that, in January 2015, a playoff game was shown only on ESPN, marking the first non-network television broadcast. Since then, ESPN’s playoff games have also been available on ABC.
Amazon, after securing exclusive rights to the NFL’s Thursday night games in 2022, went after a playoff game this year. They won the bidding by paying an estimated $150 million, according to CNBC.
This game features a matchup between division rivals, the Ravens and Steelers, who split their season series. Amazon will aim to break the NFL streaming record, which was set last January when Peacock had 23 million streamers for Kansas City’s win over the Dolphins. That record was recently surpassed by Netflix, which drew 24.3 million streamers for Baltimore’s victory over Houston on Christmas.
Even though this game is exclusive to Amazon, it can still be watched on TV in Baltimore (WMAR-TV) and Pittsburgh (WPXI-TV) on local channels. If you have an Amazon Prime or Prime Video subscription, you can watch the game for free.
