For the first Amazon game on Black Friday, the NFL had a lot of choices from its scheduling computers.
The league discussed the inaugural game in detail, but, in the end, settled on the Aaron Rodgers’ Jets hosting their long-time rivals, the Dolphins, the day after Thanksgiving.
“It kind of felt right, being in New York, the retail capital of the world on the biggest retail day,” NFL vice president of broadcast planning, Mike North, told The Post.
The Giants, North said, almost ended up in that slot with a matchup with the Eagles.
The Bengals actually raised their hand to host the inaugural game and the NFL considered a clash with their rival Steelers.
There was talk about the Las Vegas Raiders hosting, with a “Black Friday in the Black Hole” theme, North said.
But they landed on the Jets and New York.
The Black Friday Prime Video game will take place at 3 p.m. and will not require a subscription to Amazon
“We are thrilled with such a strong historical matchup and excited to kick off the holiday season in N.Y. and start a new Thanksgiving weekend tradition,” said Marie Donoghue, Amazon vice president of global sports video.
With the Jets being chosen for Black Friday, it eliminated the possibility of Rodgers facing the Cowboys on Thanksgiving.
It also means the Jets will only potentially play on Thursday night one more time.
This year, in a rule change, teams can appear on Thursdays twice a year.
“We looked at schedules with the Jets on Thanksgiving,” North said. “We looked at schedules with the Eagles, the Giants, the Commanders and the Seahawks, there were a lot of good options for Thanksgiving.”
The Giants were on last year, so it seemed unlikely it would be them.
North didn’t say who will actually be in the Turkey Day games, but the matchups will be announced on Thursday, and expect a lot of national games for both the Jets and Giants.
“I would not be surprised at all if the Jets found themselves in six prime-time games when the schedule is released,” North said.
He later added the Giants wouldn’t surprise him at all to hit the six max for prime-time games, too. The teams can be flexed into a seventh.
The Giants are coming off a playoff run, while the Jets’ national scheduling changed once they picked up Rodgers.
They went shopping and now will be playing on the biggest shopping day of the year.