Amazon Sports Advertising Attracts New Brand Categories
The platform is increasingly winning ad spend from companies that do not sell products on its retail store.
Updated on Oct. 21, 2026 in Advertising
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Amazon Prime Video grew its roster of Thursday Night Football advertisers by 6% this season, leveraging live sports to pull in new brands. The company is now attracting advertisers even if they do not sell products on its core e-commerce platform.
Why it matters
Amazon is diversifying its revenue stream by using high-engagement live sports to sell advertising space to brands that previously bypassed its ecosystem. This strategy effectively creates a new media-led entry point for companies that do not rely on Amazon's retail infrastructure.
Amazon added 80 brands new to Thursday Night Football since 2022 and 33 brands to NBA coverage since the 2025 season. Additionally, 54 brands that do not sell on the Amazon e-commerce platform have entered the ecosystem through live sports coverage.
The players
Amazon
A global technology conglomerate with a dominant e-commerce marketplace and a growing media and advertising business.
Colgate
A multinational consumer goods company that utilizes live sports coverage for its advertising campaigns.
American Express
A global financial services corporation that leverages Amazon advertising despite not selling goods on the retail platform.
The details
Amazon integrates live sports inventory with its internal customer data and ad-targeting infrastructure to capture non-retail brands. By offering these capabilities to companies like American Express, Amazon converts its streaming audience into an advertising product that operates independently of its traditional online store. This model allows the firm to capture marketing budgets from industries that have historically maintained a separate supply chain from Amazon's retail network.
Timeline
2022: Amazon began tracking brands new to its sports coverage.
2025: Amazon started its NBA coverage.
October 2026: Amazon reported its advertising growth figures at Advertising Week.
Market Landscape
Amazon's growth marks a departure from the historical seven-year gap since Colgate's last Super Bowl ad, indicating that brands are prioritizing consistent reach over traditional event-based spending. This signals an industry trend where streaming platforms capture budget from legacy TV slots.
Businesses that operate outside the Amazon retail ecosystem should monitor these sports-based ad packages as a potential new channel for customer acquisition. Marketing teams should assess whether Amazon's data-driven targeting justifies shifting ad spend away from traditional linear sports broadcasts.
The takeaway
Amazon is successfully decoupling its ad business from its retail marketplace, making its streaming sports platform a viable vehicle for non-retail brands. Operators should track these platform-specific ad opportunities to see if they offer a higher return on engagement compared to traditional cable placements.
Further reading
For more on the shifts in media buying and industry trends, see our full coverage of Advertising.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Sportsbusinessjournal.
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