Fire TV Adds New Alexa Perks for Thursday Night Football Fans
Viewers watching games on Prime Video can now tap Alexa for a host of tasks.
- Though Kourtnee hasn't won any journalism awards yet, she's been a Netflix streaming subscriber since 2012 and knows the magic of its hidden codes.
Alexa is down for Thursday Night Football -- just ask.
This week, sports fans can head to Prime Video, the official new home of the NFL's Thursday Night Football. Amazon's streaming service kicks off the season with a game on Sept. 15 and a string of new features from Alexa for its Fire TV line. The digital assistant is now equipped and ready to handle your game day commands.
A fresh Q&A option allows viewers to ask Alexa questions such as "Alexa, who has the most tackles today?" or "Alexa, who leads the NFL in touchdowns?" without disrupting your stream. The game will continue to play as the voice assistant tackles your questions about stats, teams and other NFL lore. Additionally, you can tell Alexa to stream the game on your Fire TV or Echo Show with a simple "Play Thursday Night Football" command that will take you to the live broadcast.
All you have to do is give Alexa your football-related commands.
According to Amazon, fans can combine the powers of Alexa and Prime Video's X-Ray feature for an exclusive peek at real-time game stats. During a game, ask the voice assistant to "open X-Ray" to view information like a quarterback's average time to throw or a wide receiver's average yards of separation.
There are also a handful of new functions that can be performed when there's no game on the screen. For example, superfans can keep up with their favorite teams by using an Alexa-enabled device and saying, "Follow the Dallas Cowboys." You'll receive notifications from Alexa about the team's scores, schedule and other pertinent news. And when you direct the assistant to add Thursday Night Football to your watchlist, Prime Video will automatically record all games for the entire season. You can play them back at any time.
Amazon signed an exclusive 11-year deal with the NFL to air the Thursday games, a history-making move that marked the first time the league had sold rights to a streaming service. Prime members have access to Prime Video at no extra charge, and standalone subscriptions are available for $9 per month.