Though the Bears' game Thursday night against the Patriots will be broadcast by Prime Video, fans don't need a subscription to the Amazon streamer to watch it.
Fox 32 Chicago will carry the Prime Video broadcast, which will begin at 7 p.m. Prime's pregame and postgame shows will be exclusive to the streamer, but Fox 32 will air its own pregame show starting at 5:30. Al Michaels and Kirk Herbstreit will call the game.
Unlike the other major leagues, the NFL has a long-standing policy requiring games on cable or a streaming service to be available over the air in the teams' local markets. That's why Cubs and White Sox fans were stuck with Peacock during MLB's wild-card series — unless they had access to NBC Sports Network. Despite football fans' angst over the NFL's push to streaming, the league protects them when their teams are involved.
In Chicago, Fox 32 has made a point of being the local outlet for Bears games that air on Prime Video.
"We have a good relationship with Amazon at the corporate level, and we keep making it happen," Fox 32 vice president of programming and development Sean O'Heir said.
Last season, Fox 32 carried both of the Bears' appearances on Prime, the Black Friday game against the Eagles and the playoff game against the Packers. Fox 32 is the official home of Bears programming — "Bears Blitz," "Bears Game Day Live" and "Bears Game Night Live" — an agreement that runs through next season. The Cubs' Marquee Sports Network has a carve-out in the deal to carry the Bears' official postgame show.
The game Thursday is the Bears' first of three in a row in prime time. Their next game is Nov. 2 at the Seahawks on "Monday Night Football," followed by a home game Nov. 8 against the Buccaneers on "Sunday Night Football."
