Why JCPenney is investing in Amazon Prime’s ‘Thursday Night Football’

Prime Video has an entirely new slate of sponsors for “Thursday Night Football,” including one unlikely partner—JCPenney. The retailer is presenting sponsor of the postgame show beginning with tonight’s Vikings-Eagles game, which kicks off the second season of Amazon’s NFL slate after the streamer gained exclusive rights to the game last year. It marks a new push into sports marketing for JCPenney, which had previously been associated with entertainment offerings such as the Oscars. The retailer also has new ad deals with Apple TV and Fox for Major League Soccer games. The rest of Prime’s “TNF” sponsor lineup includes more traditional sports sponsors: Verizon and Subway are sponsoring pregame shows, State Farm has the halftime sponsorship and Allstate is backing the “TNF Nightcap” show. The brand slate marks a complete turnover from last season, when Little Caesars, DraftKings, Mercedes-Benz USA and Carnival Cruise Line held sponsorships. DraftKings and Carnival are still investing in the game with ad buys, according to an Amazon representative. More news: Watch Amazon’s ‘Thursday Night Football’ campaign For sports programming, “100% [sponsor] turnover is pretty unusual, usually there are some holdovers,” said Jim Andrews, a sponsorship expert and CEO of A-Mark Partnership Strategies. He suggested that Amazon’s 2022 sponsorship approach might have been more of a trial run in its inaugural season, and now that it is in year two of its NFL deal it has gone out with a “revamped partnership package” that is potentially more expensive. Football marketing news Tracking Super Bowl, NFL and college brand moves Read more here Amazon did not directly comment on the sponsorship turnover, but in a statement to Ad Age it described “Thursday Night Football” ad sales as generating “high demand leading to a strong upfront resulting in higher sell through.” It said it got strong interest from categories such as financial services, restaurants, auto, and insurance—all traditional NFL advertisers—while “driving new advertisers to NFL programming from categories like grocery and personal care.” Prime still prohibits alcohol ads. New buyers include Hyundai, which bought exclusive automotive ad rights for the third quarter of games. “Advertisers continue to have a high demand for NFL programming, and the strength of the 2023 TNF game schedule resulted in an outsized interest from media buyers,” Amazon stated to Ad Age. “TNF is delivering a younger audience that NFL advertisers aren’t reaching with other broadcast partners.” New Black Friday opportunities One important new addition this year is Amazon’s Prime’s Black Friday game, a new scheduling approach for the NFL, which this season has the Dolphins playing at the Jets at 3 p.m. ET on Nov. 24, the day after Thanksgiving. Prime will make the game available for free—as opposed to the rest of its slate, which is only available to Prime members. The streamer is planning several special ad opportunities, including “live” commercials that advertisers can use to “promote special deals, highlight new products, and showcase the best gifts of the holiday season,” according to Amazon. The company is also selling branded content opportunities aimed at “showcasing how fans and/or talent are making new Black Friday traditions, and how a brand is helping to bring that tradition to life.” Additionally, Amazon said it is “working with advertisers to promote in-broadcast exclusive Black Friday deals on Amazon.” These opportunities on one of the biggest shopping days of the year are likely appealing to a retailer such as JCPenney—and may help explain why it is making its first-ever sizeable NFL investment with Amazon, rather than other more traditional NFL broadcasters. Recent: Nielsen won’t force Amazon data into ‘TNF’ deals this year JCPenney has “had its challenges,” Andrews said. So partnering with two giants in the NFL and Amazon will put the retailer “back in the conversation,” he added. Following JCPenney’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing and subsequent buyout by mall operators Simon Property Group and Brookfield Asset Management in 2020, JCPenney has not had to report sales publicly. However, recent reports examining various SEC filings in Retail Dive show sales falling. In May, the publication found that Penney’s net sales were down 3.4% last year to $7.6 billion, and net income decreased more than 36% to $221 million. The company is seeking new momentum by pledging to pour more than $1 billion into its business by fiscal year 2025 aimed at improving “customer experience and operational efficiencies,” it announced in late August. It has also launched a new ad campaign called “Make it Count,” while bringing back a classic logo associated with the late 1960s. The campaign—which includes ads running in tonight’s NFL game—features spots that seek to inject some more emotion into the brand by connecting its products to life moments, big and small. Yard NY is the creative agency on the effort, while Dentsu X handled media. The campaign is “all about recommitting to customers and reaching them where they are,” Bill Cunningham, JCPenney marketing VP, said in a statement. “Sports is already a key part of our target customer’s lifestyle and serves as the background for moments together with their families and friends, so it makes sense to lean into sports partnerships like ‘Thursday Night Football’ in a new way, in order to reach customers during their authentic moments of fandom.” Contributing: Adrianne Pasquarelli Ad Age Media Summit Hear from industry leaders during October event in NYC Register here

Why JCPenney is investing in Amazon Prime’s ‘Thursday Night Football’

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