The Real Reason Amazon's Thursday Night Football Doesn't Have Beer Ads

After inking an exclusive multi-year deal to air the NFL's Thursday Night Football games, Amazon Prime has already scored a subscription record and millions of viewers (per AP News). That's a huge opportunity to show ads. But Amazon is by no means the only place where NFL fans will get an all-out blitz of advertising between plays. In 2020, research by FiveThirtyEight showed a quarter of an NFL game broadcast is actually taken up by commercials instead of game-time action. That isn't all bad, as it affords chances to run to the restroom and grab more of the unexpected product Pepsi launched just in time for the 2022 NFL season: Fridge TV (via a press release).

Some NFL fans might prefer something harder than Pepsi to keep them from getting thirsty as they take in the action. Those fans likely won't see advertising for any new alcoholic offerings during Thursday Night Football broadcasts, however. The reason behind that exclusion is all about that exclusive contract between Amazon and the NFL.

According to Bloomberg, the reason you won't find any commercials for alcohol during Thursday Night Football broadcasts is that Amazon policy bans such ads in all of its video content. Business Insider expounds upon the ban, stating the rule applies to Amazon content not only in the United States but in five other nations, including Canada, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia. Amazon's policy doesn't block commercials that include alcohol if they are not marketing it, so viewers might catch the occasional glimpse of someone partaking of a hard beverage.

Additionally, the NFL reserved some commercial time for itself during Thursday Night broadcasts and the league has no similar policy banning alcohol advertising. In fact, as Pro Football Talk reported in 2017, the NFL not only sells advertising space for beer but also hard liquor. If you happen to see a commercial for alcohol during a Thursday Night Football game, it doesn't necessarily mean Amazon has rescinded its policy. It could simply mean the NFL used one of its reserved spots.

In all the ad time that Amazon controls, though, you won't see ad spots for the best light beers to drink in 2022 or any other alcohol. That doesn't necessarily mean Amazon's content will be free from any behaviors that could be perceived as vices, though. As Legal Sports Report shares, Amazon's Thursday Night Football broadcasts will promote DraftKings Sportsbook.