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The NFL Madden Cast
PLUS Black Friday Showdown On Prime Video, History Of Thanksgiving Football, Battle Of The Checkbooks
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Welcome to Office Chair Sports! Your home for everything Sports & Biz! Today, we’re covering top news about:
The NFL Madden Cast
Black Friday Showdown On Prime Video
Bring Back The Old Bulldog
History Of Thanksgiving Football
Battle Of The Checkbooks
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The NFL Madden Cast
NBC Sports is pushing the boundaries of football broadcasting with a first-of-its-kind "Madden NFL Cast" for the December 21 Texans-Chiefs game, streaming exclusively on Peacock.
The innovative broadcast will blend live action with EA SPORTS Madden NFL 25 graphics, featuring route trees, play cards, and player ratings powered by NFL's Next Gen Stats. The commentary team includes NBC Sports' Paul Burmeister, former NFL QB Kurt Benkert, and six-time Pro Bowler Chad Ochocinco serving as a real-time "ratings adjuster."
Both teams showcase plenty of Madden star power – Chiefs' Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce are part of the elite "Madden 99 Club," while Texans' Laremy Tunsil (95) and Joe Mixon (93) lead Houston's ratings
Note: The special broadcast is weather dependent due to visibility requirements.
Black Friday Showdown On Prime Video
And they're not sweating the technical challenges that recently plagued Netflix's Tyson-Paul fight.
After seven years of perfecting live sports streaming, Amazon's confident in their tech. Eric Orme, Amazon's VP of live sports, emphasizes their "feature zero" approach: "It just has to work." Their system includes full redundancy, low latency (under 10 seconds), and compatibility with thousands of ISPs to reach viewers everywhere.
Unlike Netflix's recent boxing experiment, Prime Video's been steadily building its sports portfolio since 2017. They're now averaging 14.31 million viewers for Thursday Night Football this season. The platform's even innovating with AI-powered "Prime Insights" to predict plays and highlight key moments.
The $100 million Black Friday game rights aren't just about sports – it's a strategic play to boost Prime memberships and shopping. Viewers can make purchases without leaving the stream, thanks to interactive advertising that targets based on shopping history.
Bring Back The Old Bulldog
They want the golden days with Coach Jackie.
The Bulldogs are 2-9 this season, heading into the Egg Bowl as heavy underdogs to their rival Ole Miss. A passionate group of fans is focused on restoring a piece of their 1990s glory days. Their argument? If they're being asked to fund NIL collectives that pay players, shouldn't they have more say in team decisions?
Arkansas showed this new dynamic in action, successfully leveraging logo nostalgia into NIL funding. When fans raised $500,000 in 24 hours for their collective, matched by a donor, the classic "Slobberin' Hog" returned to center court.
History Of Thanksgiving Football
As John Madden famously said, "Thanksgiving and football. Some things just go together greatly."
The tradition kicked off in 1934 when the Detroit Lions (then Spartans) hosted the Chicago Bears, and it's grown into an NFL tradition.
The Lions have played every Turkey Day since (except during WWII), while the Dallas Cowboys joined the tradition in 1966 – a marketing move by GM Tex Schramm to build "America's Team."
Some fun facts:
Every NFL team except the Jacksonville Jaguars has played on Thanksgiving
Three teams remain undefeated: Ravens (2-0), Texans (2-0), and Panthers (1-0)
The Eagles boast the best record among frequent players (6-1)
The scoring record is 55 points, shared by the 1977 Dolphins and 1997 Lions
Battle Of The Checkbooks
The Michigan-Ohio State rivalry is entering a new era where the battle isn't just on the field – it's in the checkbook.
Ohio State coach Ryan Day has tried everything to break Michigan's three-game win streak: firing coordinators, revamping the offense, and spending big on transfer portal stars like Quinshon Judkins and Will Howard.
But Michigan just raised the stakes with their reported $10-12 million NIL deal for five-star QB Bryce Underwood, flipping him from LSU. Even Tom Brady got involved, promising to mentor the recruit. Add in Barstool's Dave Portnoy offering $3 million to "find a quarterback," and you've got a financial arms race that's just heating up.
Ohio State's already spending $43 million this season with one goal: beat Michigan and win the national title – in that order. Now Michigan's showing they'll match that intensity after tasting championship success in 2023.
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