The time may come when consumers use tech giant Amazon for literally everything. Not only can a person order groceries through Amazon Fresh, or in certain areas (testing phase) have drones deliver your products, but soon one may be able to also stream football matches from the Premier League. There is chatter around the sport business world which suggests Amazon will enter the bidding rights to stream Premier League matches beginning with the 2019-2020 season.
In addition to Amazon, Facebook is also suggested to be in the mix. According to, David Conn of The Guardian, both tech firms were interested in the last round of bidding for the 2016-2019 seasons, which the Premier League sold for £8.4 billion to BSkyB and BT (Conn, 2017). Both Amazon and Facebook have made strides recently by acquiring streaming rights to sports within the United States. Amazon acquired the rights to stream the first 10 National Football League games of the 2017 season to Amazon Prime customers for $50 million (Akhtar, 2017). Facebook, on the other hand, reached a deal earlier in 2017 to live stream 22 Major League Soccer games on their digital platform (Perez, 2017). In what many believe to be a key indicator in Amazon’s seriousness of streaming sport related content, Amazon outbid Sky for exclusive rights to the ATP Tour in the United Kingdom this past summer for £10 million a year (Sandle, 2017).
As the time comes to bid on the rights to stream the Premier League, the world will see what Amazon and/or Facebook decide to do. Regardless, these moves showcase a desire to capitalize on a market of sport fans with decreasing attention spans. What better way to take advantage of this situation then to stream a sporting event on Amazon Prime, in which during a commercial the consumer can proceed to shop for their favorite club’s kit on the same digital platform. As for the Premier League, Amazon Prime and Facebook will both provide the opportunity for English football to reach additional fans around the world.
Sources:
Akhtar, I. (2017, August 22). NFL football to debut on Amazon in September. Retrieved
September 22, 2017, from https://www.cnet.com/news/nfl-football-to-debut-on-amazon-prime-in-september-2017/
Conn, D. (2017, September 21). Amazon and Facebook keen on Premier League rights, say
Manchester United. Retrieved September 22, 2017, from https://www.theguardian.com/football/2017/sep/21/amazon-facebook-premier-league-rights-manchester-united
Perez, S. (2017, March 10). Facebook scores a deal to live stream Major League Soccer matches.
Retrieved September 22, 2017, from https://techcrunch.com/2017/03/10/facebook-scores-a-deal-to-live-stream-major-league-soccer-matches/
Sandle, P. (2017, August 01). Amazon poaches ATP tennis rights in UK from Sky: report.
Retrieved September 22, 2017, from https://www.reuters.com/article/us-amazon-com-atp/amazon-poaches-atp-tennis-rights-in-uk-from-sky-report-idUSKBN1AH4MZ
By Rocco P. Porreca, Ed.D.
Dr. Rocco P. Porreca is an Assistant Professor of Sport Management at Newbury College in Brookline, Mass. Porreca has taught previously at Lynn University and the University of Miami.