NFL's Amazon deal could be test for more streaming games

Amazon begins its foray into live streaming of NFL games Thursday night when it will air a matchup between the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers on its Prime Video service.

It's another option to the traditional broadcasts on CBS and the NFL Network. Amazon will stream 10 Thursday night games and one Christmas game this season, and the success of those transmissions could determine how quickly the NFL is ready to offer one of its packages exclusively to a streaming company.

The NFL's Thursday night package is being carried jointly by CBS, NBC, the NFL Network and Amazon this year, but the 2018 package will soon be up for bid. There could be substantial interest from companies like Twitter — which aired Thursday night games last year — Amazon, and potentially other tech behemoths like Google, Apple or Facebook.