Amazon Secures NFL Streaming Rights
Amazon has reportedly won the rights to live stream the National Football League’s (NFL) ten-game Thursday Night Football package next season, according to a number of media outlets, in a bid to push its Prime memberships.
The Seattle-based company is understood to have agreed a deal that will see it pay around $50m for the games – five times what Twitter paid for the same package last year.
Media reports suggest that Amazon defeated rival bids from the likes of Facebook, Twitter and Google’s YouTube to land the rights, and will offer the games live to its Amazon Prime subscribers globally.
The new deal marks Amazon’s first major steps into live sports streaming, although the company has also worked with NFL Films on ‘All or Nothing’, a behind-the-scenes documentary series.
Twitter attracted 243,000 viewers on average during its NFL livestream debut last year. Though figures are not readily available, it is estimated that Amazon’s Prime membership is at least 60 million strong.
Twitter said in a statement: “The NFL was a great partner to launch our strategy and we will continue to work with them to bring great content to our passionate sports fans.”
As with Twitter last year, Amazon will carry the main feeds provided by the NFL’s TNF broadcast partners – CBS and NBC – who pay $225m apiece per year to show five games each.
Amazon’s coverage will include ads sold by CBS and NBC, although the company will be able to sell additional slots alongside its streams.
Amazon’s Prime Video subscription service offers unlimited streaming of on-demand TV shows and movies for £79 a year in the UK, and has previously been linked to a range of sports rights including the French Open tennis tournament and a number of rugby packages.
