AMAZON is seemingly looking to expand its ever-growing sports broadcasting portfolio.
It was reported on Thursday that the e-commerce giant is deep in discussions to broadcast a wide variety of regional NBA, MLB, and NHL games.
An Amazon Prime camera broadcasts Thursday Night Football from Lambeau Field in Green Bay in November 2022[/caption]
The San Antonio Spurs and the Minnesota Timberwolves, who last played one another on February 27, could soon head to Amazon Prime Video as a part of the Bally deal[/caption]
The deal in question could see Amazon Prime livestream Bally Sports’ regional coverage of 13 NBA teams, five in the MLB, and nine in the NHL, as per the New York Post.
The NBA teams in question include the Minnesota Timberwolves, San Antonio Spurs, and Los Angeles Clippers.
As for the MLB, the Detroit Tigers, Kansas City Royals, and Miami Marlins are currently streamed via Bally.
The Cleveland Guardians, Minnesota Twins, and Texas Rangers games are also broadest locally.
However, these contracts are reportedly in line to conclude after this season.
Should the Amazon deal be finalized, Diamond could be reportedly put in a position to re-sign the Guardians, Twins, and Rangers to fresh deals – although opposition from the MLB cannot be ruled out.
When it comes to the NHL, Amazon is already said to be in talks for local broadcast rights for the Detroit Red Wings, Anaheim Ducks, and the Tampa Bay Lightning among others.
Should the deal be pulled off, fans would pay around $20 per month for access to all of the games not available on national networks for the included teams.
This deal would be huge for not just Amazon, but also Bally, whose parent company Diamond Sports which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in March 2023.
It would also set a precedent for other potential broadcasters to forge similar deals with Bally as the proposed Amazon Prime deal is reportedly not exclusive.
Theoretically, this could then open the door for the likes of YouTube TV or Netflix to also step in – with both having also expanded their live sports broadcasting portfolios recently.
For example, starting this season, Netflix will exclusively broadcast two NFL games on Christmas Day worldwide.
As things stand, this will continue for another two seasons.
The potential Bally deal represents a huge opportunity for Amazon to rapidly expand its already fast-growing live sports coverage.
Amazon is currently entering the third of its 11-year deal with the NFL, worth a reported $11 billion, to exclusively broadcast Thursday Night Football.
The show is led by an all-star crew including Al Michaels, Kirk Herbstreit, Charissa Thompson, Tony Gonzalez, Richard Sherman, and Ryan Fitzpatrick among others.
The NBA also recently announced that they had agreed to a 10-year broadcasting rights package with Amazon which will kickstart in 2025.
This deal will allow Amazon to broadcast 66 games during the regular season, along with quarterfinals and semifinals in the Emirates NBA Cup.
What’s more, they will also have the rights to the six SoFi NBA Play-In Tournament Games, as well as one series in the first two rounds of the Playoffs, and one of the Conference Finals series’ on a rotational basis with NBC.
Amazon also has a stake in the MLB’s broadcasting world, with a 15 percent stake in the Yes Network where one New York Yankees game is broadcast per week.
As for the NHL, it recently agreed to a two-year deal with Amazon to become the exclusive home of Prime Monday Night Hockey.
An Amazon Prime microphone on December 21, 2023 during their Thursday Night Football broadcast[/caption]
