You’re sitting on the couch, the wings are ordered, and you’ve got the remote in hand. But then that annoying question hits: when does this game actually start? If you’ve ever found yourself scrolling frantically through your phone at 8:05 p.m. wondering if you missed the first drive, you aren't alone.
The short answer is that kickoff for Thursday Night Football typically happens at 8:15 p.m. ET. But honestly, the NFL loves to make things just a little more complicated than that. Depending on the week, the network, or whether it’s a holiday, that "standard" time can shift. It’s one of those things that seems simple until you're staring at a pregame show for forty minutes because you tuned in too early.
The Regular Thursday Night Football Kickoff Time Explained
For the vast majority of the season, Amazon Prime Video is the home of Thursday Night Football. Their internal clock is pretty consistent. They start their pregame coverage, TNF Tonight, at 7:00 p.m. ET. If you enjoy Al Michaels and Kirk Herbstreit breaking down the tape, that’s your window.
However, the ball doesn't actually fly through the air until 8:15 p.m. ET.
If you live in a different time zone, here is how that shakes out for your dinner plans:
- 7:15 p.m. CT (Central)
- 6:15 p.m. MT (Mountain)
- 5:15 p.m. PT (Pacific)
It’s a bit of a grind for West Coast fans who are often still stuck in traffic when the game begins. For the East Coast, it means most games don't wrap up until nearly midnight. That’s a lot of coffee for Friday morning.
👉 See also: The Brutal Reality of FIFA World Cup Qualifiers Africa: Why Big Names Keep Crashing Out
Why Week 1 is Always Different
The NFL kicks off its season on a Thursday night, but here’s the catch: it isn’t technically "Thursday Night Football."
That first game—the Season Opener—is a NBC Sunday Night Football production that just happens to air on a Thursday. Because of this, the kickoff time usually slides to 8:20 p.m. ET. It’s only a five-minute difference, but in the world of sports betting and fantasy lineups, those five minutes feel like an eternity.
In the 2025 season, for example, we saw the Philadelphia Eagles host the Dallas Cowboys in that Thursday opener. Since it was an NBC game, the 8:20 p.m. start time applied. Prime Video didn't even start its regular season coverage until Week 2.
The Holiday Chaos: Thanksgiving and Black Friday
If there is one time to double-check your schedule, it’s late November. The NFL has basically colonized the entire Thanksgiving weekend.
On Thanksgiving Day, there are three games. The "night" game usually kicks off at 8:20 p.m. ET on NBC. But then there’s the Black Friday game. Amazon Prime Video has claimed this spot as their own. In 2025, the Chicago Bears played the Philadelphia Eagles on Black Friday with a much earlier kickoff at 3:00 p.m. ET.
📖 Related: OKC Thunder vs Minnesota Timberwolves: The New Rivalry That Actually Matters
If you showed up at 8:15 p.m. for that one, you would have missed the entire game and been stuck watching highlights of Saquon Barkley highlights.
Late Season and Playoff Shifts
As the season winds down into December and January, things get even weirder. Take Christmas Day. In 2025, the Denver Broncos and Kansas City Chiefs played a Christmas nightcap. Even though it was a Thursday, the league treats holiday games as "Special Presentations."
Even the playoffs have started creeping into the Thursday territory. This past season, Prime Video even hosted a Wild Card playoff game. For that specific Green Bay Packers vs. Chicago Bears matchup in January 2026, the kickoff was moved up to 8:00 p.m. ET.
The takeaway? The "8:15 rule" is more of a very strong suggestion than a law.
💡 You might also like: Ohio State Football Score Today: Why the Buckeyes Aren't Playing
How to Actually Watch Without a Cable Box
Since the NFL moved TNF to Prime Video, the way we watch has fundamentally changed. You can't just flip to Channel 4 anymore.
You basically need the Prime Video app. If you don't have a Prime membership, you can still technically watch for free on Twitch, which Amazon owns. It’s a bit of a "life hack" for fans who don't want another monthly subscription.
Also, if you live in the local market of one of the teams playing (say, you live in Seattle and the Seahawks are playing), the game will still be broadcast on a local over-the-air channel. The NFL knows not everyone has high-speed internet, so they keep the local fans happy by letting them use an old-school antenna.
Pro Tips for the Thursday Night Viewer
If you want to be the person in the group chat who actually knows what’s going on, keep these specific nuances in mind.
- The "Kickoff" is rarely the "Kickoff": If the guide says 8:15, the actual foot-to-ball contact usually happens at 8:17 or 8:18 after the anthem and the coin toss.
- The App Buffer: Streaming has a delay. If your friends are texting you "OMG WHAT A CATCH," you are probably 30 seconds behind. Turn off your notifications if you want to be surprised.
- Check the Date for Week 18: There is almost never a Thursday night game in the final week of the season. The NFL moves everything to Saturday and Sunday to ensure maximum drama for playoff seeding.
Basically, just set your alarm for 8:10 p.m. ET. That gives you five minutes to find the remote, get the app to load without crashing, and settle in before the first snap. If it’s a holiday or the first week of September, just move that clock around by ten minutes and you'll be fine.
To stay ahead of any last-minute flex scheduling changes—which the NFL can now do for Thursday games later in the season—make sure to check the official NFL app or the Prime Video home screen on Wednesday afternoon. Flexing can move a high-stakes game into the Thursday slot with only a few weeks' notice, so your calendar might need a quick update as the playoff race heats up.**