Amazon Prime includes Thursday Night Football, new savings
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Amazon's Thursday Night Football begins Sept. 15. Photo: Leslie Plaza Johnson/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Amazon's latest benefit for Prime members kicks off this week with the debut of Thursday Night Football on Prime Video.
Why it matters: This season marks the first in NFL history that an entire rights package will be made available exclusively via a streaming platform.
- The 11-year deal includes 15 regular-season games and one preseason game per year with new pregame, halftime and postgame shows.
- The NFL has been aggressive in its efforts to bring more of its games to streaming without cannibalizing its lucrative live TV contracts with various TV networks.
Driving the news: Amazon announced Tuesday that in addition to the games Prime members can get rolling discounts on a special Thursday Night Football hub.
Amazon Prime benefits, free shipping
Top Prime benefits include free two-day delivery on millions of items and Whole Foods Market Prime member deals. Others:
- Free one-day delivery on more than 20 million items
- Free same-day delivery in more than 90 major metropolitan areas
- Streaming and digital benefits with Prime Video, Amazon Music
- Prescription savings at Amazon Pharmacy and more than 60,000 participating pharmacies in the U.S., including CVS and Walgreens.
Flashback: Amazon raised the price of its Prime membership earlier this year for the first time since 2018.
- An annual membership went up $20 from $119 to $139 and the monthly fee increased $2 from $12.99 to $14.99.
What they're saying: "Right now with what’s going on in the world with the economy and inflation, I think it’s particularly important for families, households, single folks to make their dollars stretch as far as possible," said Jamil Ghani, vice president of Amazon Prime, in an interview with Axios.
By the numbers: Prime members in the U.S. earned billions of dollars in rewards using Amazon Prime credit cards in 2021, Ghani said.
- Last year, more than 70% of Amazon Pharmacy customers enjoyed savings on a least one of their medication purchases by using the Prime prescription savings benefit.
Grubhub+ membership with Prime
Amazon started offering U.S. Prime members a free one-year Grubhub+ membership in July, typically $9.99 per month.
- The offer includes "unlimited, $0 food delivery fees on orders over $12" and "exclusive perks for Grubhub+ members and rewards like free food and order discounts."
- The free membership needs to be activated at Amazon.
State of play: "If you do the math, the Grubhub benefit alone pays for the price of Prime in terms of the delivery fee savings and the membership savings," Ghani told Axios, adding Prime members are saving hundreds of millions in fees annually.
Between the lines: After the free year of Grubhub+ ends, it will auto-renew at $9.99 a month until canceled, Amazon says in its fine print.
Walmart+ benefits include free Paramount+
Meanwhile, Walmart+ members now get access to the ad-supported tier of Paramount's subscription streaming service, Paramount+, for free.
- With the Walmart membership, which costs $12.95 a month or $98 a year, members save 10 cents per gallon of gas at participating Exxon and Mobil locations.
- Members also get free delivery from the store, free shipping with no order minimum and access to Walmart Rewards, a new loyalty program.
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