• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, Yesterday

Amazon entertained advertisers during its second Upfront in New York on Monday evening, wooing the masses with millions of customers, premiere sport events, and a lineup of A-list entertainers including Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jamie Lee Curtis.

The company made an effort to convince advertisers they could have it all.

The two iconic stars reminisced about their work together in the early 1990s on the movie "True Lies," which Curtis said launched her career, their forthcoming shows on Amazon, and how full-funnel advertising strategies on Amazon’s platforms play an important role.

Schwarzenegger, the actor, marketer and former California governor, plugged his Christmas movie The Man With the Bag. The backstory to his upcoming release began with the movie "Jingle All the Way," calling it the “greatest Christmas movie of all time.”

Earlier, Lizzo represented Twitch, and Michael B. Jordan appeared to tout his work on what he called the “Creed-verse.”

Some A-listers were not present. Nicolas Cage, who has been a lifelong fan of comic book characters, did not appear at Upfronts, but Amazon announced he will star in the new Spider-Noir series, coming to MGM+ and Prime Video

"Spider-Noir" will become available to see in black-and-white and in color when it debuts next year.

The live-action series follows an aging and down-on-his-luck private investigator in 1930s New York, played by Cage, who grapples with his past life as the city’s one and only superhero -- a role he cherished as a child.

Sports played a key role in the evening event. The 2025 holiday season will begin and end with two highly anticipated NFL matchups of the year. 

Amazon on November 28 will air the streamer’s third edition of "Black Friday Football," when the Super Bowl champions the Eagles take on Caleb Williams and the Bears to kick off a daylong celebration of sports and great shopping deals.

Twenty-seven days later, on prime-time Christmas night, the Broncos and Chiefs in Kansas City will compete.

Prime Video’s "Black Friday Football" and Christmas NFL matchups were announced Monday evening on the stage. The announcement arrives in advance of the full-season TNF schedule, which will be released on May 14. 

This season’s exclusive NFL coverage on Prime Video includes one preseason game, 15 "Thursday Night Football" events, "Black Friday Football," and an NFL Wild Card Playoff game in January.

Earlier in the day, Amazon announced a lineup of new contextual ad units powered by artificial intelligence (AI) for Prime Video. The ad formats do more than connect advertisers with viewers through a pause ad format.