Dive Brief:

• As part of its deal to stream 10 NFL Thursday Night Football games this fall, Amazon is promising that it will track how many people see sponsors' in-game ads and then browse or buy products on Amazon.com, according to a report in Business Insider.
• Amazon can sell two minutes of ads per hour during its NFL live streams to Prime subscribers, with the remaining ads sold and delivered by the network broadcasting the game, Business Insider said. The e-commerce giant will show national ads of the same spot to everyone across the country and is working to find four major sponsors to buy TV spots, ads on Amazon.com and ads during pre- and post-game coverage.
• In June, CNBC reported that Amazon's NFL ad packages cost $2.8 million and would include brands running ads on Amazon.com throughout the NFL season, not only during the more limited Thursday Night Football slate of games.

Dive Insight:

With this move, Amazon is betting that its superior measurement capabilities will be a big enough selling point to attract big-name brands into the fold, as this could lead to it delivering unique ads to different consumers based on their individual shopping histories, demographics and location, per Business Insider. People who stream the NFL games will have to log in through Amazon.com, giving the company the necessary data to personalize its in-stream ads for those viewers — a level of customization and targeting that's not currently available on most TV channels and could provide rich value for brands in tracking return-on-investment. 

Earlier this year, Amazon outbid Twitter, Facebook and YouTube for the streaming rights to this season's Thursday Night Football package, paying out $50 million plus a reported $30 million in free promotion and marketing for the NFL. Even though Amazon's ad slots during the games are limited in number, that inventory could significantly boost the company's power as an emerging advertising force.

WPP's CEO Martin Sorrell has on several occasions pointed to Amazon as a quietly growing player in the digital advertising space. With the latest news, it's clear Amazon is trying to draw away TV ad dollars with the promise of superior measurement and targeting tools around highly-valued sports content. If this strategy is successful, it could cause TV ad buyers to more carefully consider the digital streaming alternatives where viewers are more often spending their time.