Why did the Packers-Bears game end up on Amazon on Saturday night?

The NFL assigning the wild-card playoff game of the hallowed Green Bay Packers-Chicago Bears rivalry to Amazon Prime Video on a Saturday night might have surprised fans who expected a plum position on Sunday afternoon – or at least a spot on a major network.

Jeff Agrest, a sports media writer for the Chicago Sun-Times, reported Jan. 5 about the thinking that led to the decision.

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The NFL generally puts the perceived highest-profile game of a playoff weekend at 3:30 p.m. CT Sunday, with the next-highest at 7 p.m. Sunday. Agrest wrote that the NFL's broadcast partners all wanted the Packers-Bears game but judged that game and the Philadelphia Eagles-San Francisco 49ers games as nearly identical in attractiveness.

He wrote, "... the NFL chose to lean into its burgeoning relationship with Prime Video's owner, Amazon. In the end, it granted the league's longest-running rivalry to its newest weekly partner for 7 p.m. Saturday."

More: Will you need Amazon Prime Video to watch Packers-Bears?

Agrest wrote that NBC, which has the Sunday night game, lobbied for Packers-Bears, but the NFL felt the network had just gotten a considerable gem in the de facto playoff game between the Baltimore Ravens and the Pittsburgh Steelers in the regular-season finale and wanted to spread the wealth.

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As a result, the Eagles and 49ers will play in the 3:30 p.m. window on Fox on Sunday, Jan. 11 and the San Diego Chargers-New England Patriots game will air on NBC at 7 p.m. The Packers and Bears will play at 7 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 10, following the Los Angeles Rams-Carolina Panthers game at 3:30 p.m. on Fox. On Monday, Jan. 12, it'll be the Steelers and the Houston Texans at 7:15 p.m. on ESPN.

Fans know well how much streaming has become part of the sports-consumption routine in recent years. The NFL has put at least one playoff game on a streaming service each of the past two seasons, starting with a Peacock game two postseasons ago and an Amazon game last year.

Amazon also had a Black Friday game in 2025 and, of course, broadcasts the "Thursday Night Football" package during the regular season.

In 2025, the service was credited with the best viewership on "Thursday Night Football" in the two decades of its existence, though bear in mind that Nielsen adjusted its rating system in early September 2025.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Why did Packers-Bears playoff game end up on Amazon on Saturday night?