YORK, Pa. — Ahead of the Steelers' primetime matchup with the Cleveland Browns, hundreds of fans made their way to Primanti Brothers in York Township to watch the game.
“I am so super excited for this game. I love the Steelers," said customer Angela Gorman.
“Primanti brothers, we can’t lose here. It’s a Pittsburgh place," said Primanti Bros game viewer Erik Romano.
This Thursday marks a new era for Steelers fans, as many will only be able to watch Thursday Night Football games on Amazon Prime. The streaming giant’s debut broadcast drew 13 million viewers. Despite this, Amazon’s new exclusive deal is getting mixed reactions.
“There were some glitches that caused a bit of a problem," said customer Diane Splat. "So that was definitely a little bit of a bummer.”
“I don’t think the NFL should be pay-per-view," said viewer Mike Walker. "I think everybody should be able to see the NFL.”
Amazon is partnering with DirecTV to bring Thursday Night Football to over 300,000 bars across the country, including Primanti Brothers. This gave Steelers fans another option to watch the game.
“We were very concerned about that at first," said patron Hunter Splat. "But knowing bars will still have access to it it’s definitely a big thing and it opens up more opportunities.”
Regardless of how the game is watched, fans are happy to cheer on the Steelers with friends and family at the bar.
“A lot of people go to the bar to watch the game, so to have that here is pretty nice," said Jesse Leach, a customer at the bar.