SI

NFL Makes Terrible Television Decision: TRAINA THOUGHTS

Amazon will be your only option for watching a late-season 2020 NFL game

Jimmy Traina

1. Get off my lawn. O.K., Boomer. You're old. You just like to complain. Blah, blah, blah.

Save all of those unoriginal and uncreative responses, because no matter what you say, the NFL's decision to give Amazon an exclusive late-season Saturday game absolutely stinks on every level.

Sports Business Journal's John Ourand reported today that Amazon has renewed its streaming deal for Thursday Night Football through 2022. However, there was a twist. Amazon is also getting exclusive rights to air one Saturday regular-season game.

The game will be shown on regular television in the local markets of the two teams playing, but everyone else in the country who likes to watch TV the old fashioned way, and not via streaming, is screwed. Amazon.com will be your only choice.

I know many of you reading this right now are saying to yourselves, "What's the big deal? Just watch it on your laptop or Apple TV or Amazon FireStick or run a USB cord, etc., etc." It doesn't work that way. Just because those are easy options for YOU, it doesn't mean those are easy options for everyone. If you don't think this shuts out a decent number of people from watching the game, you have to get out of your bubble.

And we're not talking about an October Jaguars-Titans Thursday night game. The Saturday game Amazon has exclusive rights to air will come in the second half of the season, so chances are, it will have playoff implications. And if you don't stream, you can't watch it.

I understand that we're becoming a streaming world. But there are still millions of people who don't stream. To rob them of watching a late-season NFL game because Amazon is paying the league god knows what is nothing but a slap in the face to fans.

In other words, typical NFL and Roger Goodell.

2. I loved the response I got to Tuesday's Traina Thoughts, in which I proclaimed that the best sports scene in movie history was in Swingers. Many readers were in agreement, which is always a shock, while others sent in some outstanding choices of their own.

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3. With the NCAA tournament canceled, I'm actually stunned this figure isn't higher.

4. Phil Jackson won 11 NBA titles as a head coach, but SiriusXM's Chris "Mad Dog" Russo is not impressed (and he's right). 

5. Sopranos stars and the hosts of the new Talking Sopranos podcast, Michael Imperioli and Steve Schirripa, joined the latest episode of the SI Media Podcast. We went in-depth on many aspects of the show: the writing, whether things were ad-libbed, the deaths of Bobby and Christopher, Pine Barrens and much more. The guys also defended the Knicks and James Dolan.

You can listen to the podcast below or download it on Apple, Spotify, Stitcher and Google Play.

6. RANDOM YOUTUBE VIDEO OF THE DAY: Happy 66th birthday, Jerry Seinfeld. Thank you for one of the best TV moments ever.

7. SPORTS HIGHLIGHT OF THE DAY: If you think bat flips have become a big deal in recent years, just remember that nobody bat flipped or admired his home runs more than the great Rickey Henderson.

Be sure to catch up on past editions of Traina Thoughts and check out the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast hosted by Jimmy Traina on Apple, Spotify or Stitcher. You can also follow Jimmy on Twitter and Instagram.

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Jimmy Traina
JIMMY TRAINA

Jimmy Traina is a staff writer and podcast host for Sports Illustrated. A 20-year veteran in the industry, he’s been covering the sports media landscape for seven years and writes a daily column, Traina Thoughts. Traina has hosted the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast since 2018, a show known for interviews with some of the most important and powerful people in sports media. He also was the creator and writer of SI’s Hot Clicks feature from 2007 to '13.

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