Amazon tips off its inaugural NBA season on Prime Video

From the baseline to the top of the key, Prime Video is bringing every moment of NBA action to viewers starting this Friday as Prime Sports debuts its global NBA partnership. The opening-week doubleheader features playoff rematches between the Boston Celtics and New York Knicks at 7:30 p.m. E.T., followed by the Minnesota Timberwolves and Los Angeles Lakers at 10 p.m. E.T. Pregame coverage begins at 7 p.m. E.T.

For advertisers looking to get on the court with viewers, Prime Video’s NBA coverage offers brands an opportunity to be part of the games, at scale. With a global reach, innovative ad tech, and the excitement of being the exclusive third-party digital partner of NBA League Pass, Prime Video is the place to look when reaching NBA fans.

Innovation, at your fingertips

Building on three years of success with Thursday Night Football, Prime Video brings proven, groundbreaking advertising capabilities to NBA broadcasts in 2025. With interactive video ads, brands can enable seamless product discovery and purchasing through second-screen experiences. Ensuring that viewers are seeing content that is most relevant to them, audience-based creative capabilities deliver distinct ad versions to different viewer segments, meaning viewers are seeing creative that speaks most directly to them. The power of combining these solutions was demonstrated during Thursday Night Football broadcasts—advertisers who paired audience-based creative with interactive video ads saw a 35% higher ad engagement rate compared to using interactive video ads alone,¹ showing how relevance can amplify viewer interaction. Now, these same proven capabilities are available for NBA broadcasts.

Remarketing extends these capabilities further, allowing brands to continue the conversation with viewers who have been exposed to ads during NBA on Prime. By reaching these viewers across Amazon's diverse offerings after their initial game-time exposure, brands can help drive deeper engagement with an audience that spends 4.5x² more on Amazon than the average shopper. This remarketing approach proves valuable given that 52%³ of NBA on Prime viewers cannot be reached through linear TV. Brands can help maximize their initial investment by creating additional touchpoints with this valuable, otherwise unreachable audience at moments when they're most likely to convert from awareness to consideration and purchase.

And of course, brand partnership opportunities create unique integrations beyond traditional commercial breaks. From custom content featuring NBA on Prime studio talent to strategic in-game features and sponsored segments, brands can create meaningful connections throughout the NBA on Prime experience. These partnerships work together with our innovative ad capabilities to create a comprehensive brand presence.

Thursday Night Football has illustrated the clear impact of an integrated approach. Audiences who experienced both TNF advertising and lower-funnel remarketing campaigns demonstrated 59% higher new-to-brand purchases and 46% higher overall purchase rate compared to those who only saw lower-funnel ads.⁴ With NBA on Prime, advertisers can leverage these same powerful capabilities to connect with passionate and engaged basketball fans.

Comprehensive game coverage

Prime Video has assembled an elite team of basketball personalities, broadcasting from its groundbreaking 13,000-square-foot, two-story studio in Culver City, located on the Amazon MGM Studios lot. This state-of-the-art facility features over 2,300 LED screens, 22 cameras, and a regulation half-court basketball floor. The studio serves as the hub for comprehensive NBA coverage, with the upper mezzanine hosting the main desk for pre-game shows while the ground floor transforms into a casual lounge setting for NBA Nightcap postgame analysis. The innovative space can instantly transform to display different NBA arenas, city skylines, or data visualizations, bringing viewers closer to the game than ever before with HDR and 1080p broadcasting capabilities.

Emmy-nominated host Taylor Rooks anchors the pregame, halftime, and postgame coverage alongside six-time All-Star Blake Griffin, Basketball Hall of Famer Dirk Nowitzki, and three-time NBA champion Udonis Haslem. The game coverage features an impressive roster of analysts bringing diverse perspectives: Basketball Hall of Famers Dwyane Wade and Steve Nash, WNBA legend Candace Parker, former NBA head coach Stan Van Gundy, and respected veterans Brent Barry and Dell Curry, plus more.

Prime Video's NBA partnership includes regionalized sponsorship opportunities, innovative ad capabilities, and market-specific game packages across the globe. The agreement delivers comprehensive programming worldwide: Brazil and Mexico will receive 147 regular season games, major European markets will have access to 87 regular season games, plus the playoffs and the Finals in 2026, and U.S. viewers will get 67 exclusive regular season matchups plus playoff coverage. Fans can watch through the Prime Video app, and NBA League Pass will be available through Prime Video Channels globally as part of Prime Video's expanding global sports portfolio.

NBA League Pass

Amazon Ads is introducing programmatic access to NBA League Pass through Amazon DSP, marking a significant milestone as Amazon's first 100% programmatic sports offering with substantial scale. As the exclusive third-party digital partner of NBA League Pass and the only partner with the ability to sell inventory directly through programmatic channels, Amazon Ads helps advertisers of all sizes reach viewers across Prime Video Channels and the NBA's direct-to-consumer app.

Through Amazon DSP's simplified solutions, advertisers can leverage Amazon's trillions of signals to reach relevant viewers across nearly 1,000 out-of-market games in the U.S., and every regular and postseason game internationally. Unlike traditional sports investments that require upfront commitments for specific games or sponsorships, this programmatic approach helps enable more flexible campaign management with adjustable investment levels and audience-focused strategies.

Sources

^¹ Amazon internal data, US, Sept 2024–Jan 2025.

^² Amazon internal data, US, 2023.

^³ MRI-Simmons, US, 2024.

^⁴ Amazon internal data, US, Sept 2024–Jan 2025.