Announcing a three-year deal to stream Premier League football, Amazon has broken the hold of Sky and BT.
Premier League matches will be available on Prime Video in the UK, at no extra cost to members, from 2019. It is the first time a full round of Premier League fixtures will be broadcast live online in the UK.
Here, experts explain the significance of the deal.
Mihir Haria-Shah, broadcast account director, Total Media
It’s unsurprising that one of the internet streaming giants has bought some of the premier league rights. The package that Amazon has taken up was very much designed, by the FA, for a streaming platform to enter – with the ability to simulcast games and allow viewers to choose which one they watch.
At this level it seems that Amazon is both testing the waters with this to see if there is a viable future for football on their platform or simply looking to drive more Amazon Prime subscriptions.
The likes of Sky and BT won’t be worried, yet. Who it will really impact are the consumers, with early estimates suggesting that Sky TV customers will have to pay approximately £860 per year to watch all premier league football matches on Sky, BT Sport and Amazon Prime.
Jamie Clilverd, digital AV manager, The Specialist Works
It’s an interesting move, but by no means a surprise in the current market. What’s more surprising is that the likes of Amazon and Netflix weren’t involved in the early rounds of negotiations – given their buying power around content – as the first round of rights went to Sky and BT Sport.
Twitter and Facebook have always toyed with the idea of live sport, but device limitations and mindset still make it a hard sell. Despite this, Amazon Prime feels symbiotic – with an increasing amount of player inventory serving across live TV.
We’ve seen player subscription growth increase rapidly over the past five years and variance in content has followed. 20 games a season won’t dent the big players, and the fact it probably won’t be commercialised won’t cause adland fragmentation; but watch this space.
Liam Hamill, principal, Wolff Olins
It’s a really smart move by Amazon and will serve as an interesting test bed for whether the model established by Sky and followed by BT will give way to larger scale disruption.
The big question has always been around how global tech players, whose model is to distribute entertainment content worldwide, will monetise local sports rights.
For Amazon, the play is clearly around its Prime ecosystem. Prime members spend twice as much as non-Prime members, on top of the £79 a year subscription fee.
The Premier League represents another enticing reason to join and, when considered alongside other rights acquisitions such as the ATP tennis, Amazon’s intent is clear.
If Amazon manages to prove the commercial success of the model and can bring fans innovative new ways of interacting and engaging, I’m sure we’ll see the other tech giants enter the bidding war next time around.
Sam Grimley, commercial director, GumGum Sports
It was only a matter of time before a deal like this happened. Media consumption patterns are changing, and the industry recognises that traditional broadcast is losing its audience to streaming services, OTT media services and social media. It therefore makes complete sense for Amazon to bid for a package of this nature.
What will be interesting to see is how Amazon tries to monetise these rights, and how the Premier League and Premier League clubs will react to a new channel of sponsorship valuation. Rights holders need to start looking beyond just broadcast, and consider the value these new channels can generate when discussing the true value of sponsorships with brands.
