You’re staring at a blank TV screen or a spinning loading icon, and the sinking feeling sets in. You thought the game started at 8:00. Or was it 8:30? Honestly, the NFL doesn't make it easy. Between the pregame hype and the actual coin toss, there’s a window that catches people off guard every single week.
The official word is simple: 8:15 PM ET. That is the standard Thursday night kickoff time for nearly every regular-season game on Amazon Prime Video.
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But "standard" is a tricky word in pro sports. If you're on the West Coast, you’re looking at 5:15 PM PT, which basically means you're racing home through rush hour just to catch the opening drive. If you're in the mountains, it's 6:15 PM, and for the Central folks, it's 7:15 PM.
What Time Is Thursday Night Kickoff and Why the Buffering Matters
Getting the time right is only half the battle these days. Since the NFL moved the bulk of the Thursday slate to streaming, you aren't just flipping a channel. You're launching an app.
Amazon Prime Video starts their "TNF Tonight" pregame coverage at 7:00 PM ET. If you actually want to see the analysis, the player warmups, and Al Michaels' latest deadpan observation, that’s when you need to be logged in.
Wait. There’s a catch.
The Week 1 game—the big season opener—isn't technically "Thursday Night Football" in the eyes of the league's broadcast contracts. It’s a special presentation of NBC’s Sunday Night Football that just happens to be played on a Thursday. For that specific game, the kickoff usually slides back slightly to 8:20 PM ET. It’s a five-minute difference that ruins a lot of buffalo wing timing.
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Breaking Down the Kickoff Windows
- Regular TNF (Prime Video): 8:15 PM ET / 5:15 PM PT
- Pregame Show Start: 7:00 PM ET / 4:00 PM PT
- Season Opener (NBC): 8:20 PM ET
- Thanksgiving Games: These are the wildcards. You get a tripleheader starting as early as 12:30 PM ET.
The Streaming Factor You Can't Ignore
Kinda annoying, right? You have to make sure your internet isn't being hogged by someone in the other room while you're trying to watch 300-pound linemen collide in 4K.
Amazon’s exclusive deal runs through 2033, so we better get used to it. One thing most people miss is that the game also streams on Twitch. If your Prime Video app is acting buggy, Twitch is often a solid "secret" backup. Plus, if you live in the local markets of the two teams playing, the game is usually broadcast on a local over-the-air station.
But for the rest of us? It’s the app or nothing.
Why 8:15 PM is the Magic Number
The NFL loves consistency. They want you to know that when Thursday rolls around, 8:15 is the moment the ball flies. It’s late enough for the West Coast to get off work (mostly) and not so late that the East Coast is falling asleep by halftime—though a bad matchup between two 2-10 teams might do that anyway.
If you’re planning a watch party, tell everyone the start is 8:00. By the time they actually show up, grab a drink, and settle in, the 8:15 kickoff will be right on time.
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Basically, the "official" time and the "real" time are cousins, not twins. The broadcast starts early, the talking heads go on at 7:00, but the actual foot-to-leather moment is 8:15 PM ET.
To stay ahead of any mid-season changes, always check the "Live & Upcoming" row on your Prime Video dashboard. They’ll usually have a countdown clock running hours before the game. Make sure your app is updated at least a day before; there’s nothing worse than a mandatory 500MB update at 8:14 PM.