Amazon Upfront Stacks NFL, Oprah, Michael B. Jordan
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- Amazon packed its Beacon Theater Upfront with Diplo, Kacey Musgraves, Oprah Winfrey, Chris Pratt, Michael B. Jordan, and a returning Arnold Schwarzenegger, and even ran actual ads mid-show featuring Summer House's Paige DeSorbo to a reportedly frustrated audience
- Oprah Winfrey appeared after striking a podcast deal with Amazon's Wondery; rapper Ice Spice turned up to promote Twitch while Shaboozey pushed Prime Sports
- Amazon staged a heavy sports push, bringing NFL MVP and LA Rams QB Matthew Stafford on stage alongside Thursday Night Football hosts Charissa Thompson, Andrew Whitworth, and Ryan Fitzpatrick
- Peter Friedlander, Amazon's Global Head of TV, pitched the books-to-screen pipeline through Amazon's store, Audible, and Kindle as "the Amazon advantage" and confirmed The Summer I Turned Pretty is being adapted into a movie
- Chris Pratt announced The Terminal List returns in October, more than four years after season one, with Amazon also unveiling The Boys spinoff Vought Rising, Reacher spinoff Neagley, Criminal starring Charlie Hunnam, and a Carrie adaptation
- Michael B. Jordan revealed three projects: Muhammad Ali drama The Greatest starring Jaalen Best, Fourth Wing, and Creed spinoff Delphi
- Off Campus was renewed for a second season ahead of its premiere, while Meghann Fahy and Jane Krakowski pulled double duty after appearing at NBCUniversal's Upfront
Why it matters: Amazon is using its Upfront to argue that owning a store, Audible, and Kindle gives it a unique books-to-screen pipeline no rival can match, with Peter Friedlander calling that read-through "the Amazon advantage." The event's sports-heavy staging — NFL MVP Matthew Stafford, Thursday Night Football hosts, and first-party sports promotion from Ice Spice and Shaboozey — shows live sports and franchise spinoffs (Vought Rising, Neagley, Delphi) doing the heaviest lifting in the ad-sales pitch, not prestige originals.
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