American football league the NFL has issued a request for proposal concerning its Thursday Night Football rights package, with the document reportedly outlining that a contract could be solely sealed by an online streaming provider for the first time.
The Broadcasting & Cable website said the RFP was issued before Christmas, with the NFL seeking responses this month for a contract that would take effect from the 2018 season.
The 2017 season has seen e-commerce and media company Amazon become a Thursday Night Football partner for the first time.
The Amazon Prime service has served as the NFL’s exclusive partner to deliver a live OTT digital stream of Thursday Night Football to a global audience across devices during the 2017 season.
Amazon Prime Video has streamed the 10 Thursday Night Football games broadcast by NBC and CBS, which were also simulcast on NFL Network, once again securing the league's tri-cast model of broadcast (NBC/CBS), cable (NFL Network), and digital (Amazon Prime Video) distribution.
The RFP reportedly outlines that the NFL is open to changes to the Thursday Night Football package, including moving more games from Thursday.
The league is also said to be open to the prospect of having a digital company such as Amazon taking the entire package of rights.