Amazon’s Black Friday Game Scores Big for Advertisers

In only its second year hosting the NFL Black Friday game, Amazon has had no problem staying on offense and moving forward.

Drawing 13.51 million viewers to see the Kansas City Chiefs eke out a 19-17 win over the Las Vegas Raiders—and increasing its audience 41% from the roughly 9 million who watched the New York Jets and Miami Dolphins last year—Amazon spread the field for Black Friday advertisers in 2024. They appreciated the effort, with 30% more brands airing interactive ads in the company’s Prime Video stream than in 2023.

Mazda signed on for Amazon’s Black Friday pre-kick show, Uber Eats took kickoff duties, and Amazon’s team of advertisers expanded to include Google Pixel, Solo Stove, Ralph Lauren Fragrances, and Microsoft. More than 40% of its advertisers were new to the Black Friday game, and 20% of them debuted ads created specifically for the event.

Fans approved. 

The flood of new holiday viewers led to clicks, as engagement with interactive ads increased 10% from last year, according to Amazon’s click/scan rates.

“Prime Video’s leaned-in audience came ready to engage with our Black Friday advertisers through clicks, scans, and search, which resulted in our highest customer engagement on record,” said Danielle Carney, head of live sports and video sales for Amazon Ads.

It was also a learning experience for Amazon, which noted some meaningful shifts in how fans watched and shopped the game from year to year. According to its own data, interactive ads were 11 times more effective in drawing fans’ interest than QR codes aired during the Black Friday game. 

Amazon also noted that brands that targeted interactive ads to specific audiences saw 200% higher search rates on Google compared to brands that opted against interactive ads and audience-based creative. Finally, according to Google data from television data firm EDO, Amazon’s Black Friday game viewership was more than 51% more likely to search for brands and products advertised during that day’s game than viewers of ads that ran during NFL Thanksgiving games.

“The Black Friday game is changing consumer behaviors for both fans and advertisers as a new sports holiday on one of the biggest shopping days,” Carney said.