Streaming is part of the future of live sports streaming, and Amazon helps fans watch sports events – from tennis to American football to football – in many different venues.
A new sports year is ahead of us, so we spoke to Marie Donoghue, vice president of Global Sports Video at Amazon, to better understand this growing streaming segment. Marie Donoghue and her team made history in March 2021, when Prime Video became the first streaming service to secure an exclusive national broadcast rights package from the NFL as a Thursday Night Football destination next season .
Prime members from around the world can now watch live sports events such as Thursday Night Football, Premier League, US Open (tennis), ATP Next Gen Finals, WTA, UEFA Champions League, Roland-Garros, Ligue 1, WNBA, etc. and subscribe to streaming services such as MLB.TV, NBA League Pass, and NBA TV via Prime Video channels (availability varies by region).
What trends broadly did you observe in the live streaming landscape of sports in 2021? How have audiences switched from traditional to streaming TV?
The shift to 스포츠중계 has really accelerated over the past few years as consumption habits shift towards digital and social media, and fans have more teams, leagues, brands, and services to choose from. In 2021, we witnessed this momentum with Prime Video, delivering over 300 days of live sports broadcasts across 6 territories, which translates to over 20,000 live events for customers. We anticipate that this trend will only increase and the number of live events streaming on Prime Video will more than triple this year.
While sports broadcasting have basically remained the same over the last few decades, this change gives Amazon a huge opportunity to evolve the broadcast landscape and build unique experiences that will allow fans to customize the way they engage with sports.
Which sports leagues have decided to offer live streaming of sports events in 2021? How did these offers appeal to groups of recipients?
There is no better example than the NFL. In March 2021, we became the first streaming service to secure a package of exclusive national broadcast rights from the NFL, making Prime Video home to Thursday Night Football starting in the 2022-2023 season. The historic deal was dubbed a “turning point” by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and was the biggest leap forward for streaming sports events so far. In addition to streaming exclusivity on Prime Video, the deal expands the TNF package from 11 to 15 regular season games and also includes one pre-season match per year. We can’t wait to start the next season.
What are the benefits for brands of reaching audiences watching live streaming sports?
Prime Video is uniquely positioned and capable of producing and broadcasting content worldwide with over 200 million Prime members worldwide. We are open to experimentation on behalf of fans and leagues, and integration with the AWS platform and Twitch allows us to test new technologies that improve the viewing experience, reach new and younger audiences, enable those audiences to engage, and help organizations achieve more ambitious business goals.
How do you predict – will the shift towards streaming continue or will this trend change in 2022?
I don’t expect the industry to completely shift from the traditional model to streaming TV commercials overnight, but we’ve come a long way and are seeing tremendous momentum with live sports on Prime Video. With streaming, you can reach audiences wherever they are and create personalized experiences that can change the way we watch sports.
