A Recap of the NFL’s First Black Friday

For the first time ever, the NFL played a game on the day after Thanksgiving.

The new tradition began following Amazon’s purchase last year of exclusive broadcasting rights for the Black Friday game at a reported price tag of $100 million.

As with any new broadcast, there were some complaints – Fast Company’s Talib Visram said that the broadcast had “no structural integrity” and was “all over the place” in terms of ads. The broadcast, which was streamed for free as part of a Black Friday “deal” from Amazon, reportedly had 9.61 million viewers.

Amazon also owns the rights to “Thursday Night Football,” however rights for Thanksgiving day games are separate.

While some fans enjoyed the games from their couch and weighed the pros and cons of the new football tradition, those that attended the game in person didn’t have to pay much more to attend the calendar’s newest major sports day than they would have had to pay for another game over Thanksgiving weekend.

The average ticket price for the game between the New York Jets and Miami Dolphins on Friday was $245 – only slightly above the weekend’s league average of $207.

The most expensive game was in Las Vegas, where the Raiders hosted their longtime rivals, the Kansas City Chiefs, on Sunday.

Several teams have reportedly asked to be an annual host of the Black Friday game.

“I think that less likely in the near term,” said Hans Schroeder, NFL executive vice president for media distribution. “Our focus is much more on the opportunity to rotate this.”