Even though football dominates basketball, the NFL and NBA make Christmas Day a battleground for ratings. On the day the Christmas shopping season officially begins (currently unofficially starting weeks in advance), the NFL and NBA will be unified through a common broadcast partner.
Through Variety.com, Amazon Prime will stream both NFL and NBA games on Black Friday 2025.
Next year, Amazon Prime will embark on its first deal to broadcast NBA games.
Due to the NFL's antitrust exemption, NFL games cannot be shown on television after 6pm ET on Fridays from the second weekend in September through the second weekend in December. That means Black Friday NFL games start at 3pm ET. That would free up the rest of the night for an NBA game or two, and the NFL would potentially draw large crowds to basketball games.
The NFL may want something from Amazon in exchange for more viewership for the NBA. One is that it's probably fair to make the request under the circumstances. And two, because the NFL almost always wants something.
