How Amazon turned its Thursday Night Football into a two-pronged pitch to capture ad dollars

October 19, 2026 For the e-commerce giant, Thursday Night Football coverage has proven a particularly useful tool to expand its advertising and streaming business. The company has successfully used the TNF audience to convert brands that don’t sell products on its e-commerce site, like American Express, amid fierce competition among DSP providers. But it’s also positioned its live sports portfolio as an upsell option for brands that do shift product on its retail platform, but which don’t typically bother with sports advertising, like Colgate. TOP STORY The Sports Marketing Playbook How Amazon turned its Thursday Night Football into a two-pronged pitch to capture ad dollars TNF’s the jewel in Amazon’s Prime Video sports portfolio, and a lever for endemic and non-endemic media budgets. OTHER THINGS TO KNOW Join us Nov. 4 in NYC for Digiday Creator Strategies, happening soon. Connect with leaders from Gap, YSL Beauty and Pearpop, alongside top creators, to explore the future of creator marketing. Secure your pass today. On Nov. 5 at 1 p.m. ET, join this webinar where experts from Cint and iSpot will discuss how to bridge audience, creative and measurement gaps to maximize CTV performance before 2027 buying begins. Partner insights from TripleLift. Under growing pressure to prove marketing performance, many brands are taking a closer look at whether affiliate marketing is delivering the incremental growth it promises. Partner insights from Bluepear. Advertisement MEDIA & PLATFORMS Member exclusive Media Buying Briefing: How are the 2nd tier holdcos separating themselves from the Big Three? Just under Publics, Omnicom and WPP, the scrum among a handful of holdcos and indies to stand out yields some interesting moves. Zero-click Future The Verge switches up its audience team to prepare for Google Zero The Verge has restructured its audience development team to prioritize loyal readers over traffic and page views. PARTNER INSIGHTS FROM AFFINITY GLOBAL When it comes to evaluating AI, productivity and value are not the same What will separate companies is their ability to demonstrate, with real evidence, that AI infrastructure changed outcomes, not simply that workflows became faster.  MODERN RETAIL Marketing on Platforms Target bets on buzzy TikTok brands like Mellow Sleep to revamp its home category This fall, there’s been a steady drumbeat of new brands launching in the big-box retailer’s home category. PARTNER INSIGHTS FROM BRAZE Publishers expand subscription features to reduce churn Eighty-six percent of publishers said member-exclusive newsletters are their top offering to retain subscribers, according to a new Digiday and Braze survey. Research, podcasts and personalized content also give subscribers deeper benefits.  Advertisement PARTNER INSIGHTS FROM AUDACY Podcast measurement is becoming more sophisticated In the early days, podcast measurement was basically the honor system. Now tools such as pixel-based attribution, brand lift studies and post-purchase surveys make podcast campaigns actually measurable.  ICYMI Brands in Culture Inside Dentsu’s plan to make entertainment a part of every brand’s budget Why Dentsu thinks entertainment is the next agency account up for grabs. The Creator Economy Media buys and mega partnerships: How the creator economy is splitting in two There’s a growing bifurcation in the creator economy. While the Alix Earle’s and Mr Beast’s of the world take on the role of agencies, nano and micro creators have become media buys. Written by Jim Cooper and Sara Jerde Were you forwarded this email? Sign up to get it daily. Advertise | Digiday+ | Events | Awards Update your email | Unsubscribe | Privacy policy