Amazon’s deal with the UK Premier League to live screen 20 Premier League matches a year for three seasons from 2019/20 to 2021/22 is yet another boon for Prime – and one that will no doubt score many new members.
As report on Tamebay, Amazon has exclusive rights to two full fixture rounds – the first December midweek round and the festive Bank Holiday round – featuring live coverage of every Premier League team. This will be the first time a full round of Premier League fixtures will be broadcast live in the UK.
In addition – and crucially – Prime members will be able to watch weekly highlights of all Premier League matches throughout the season.
Why is this such a great deal for Amazon? Because, while it won’t be attracting new football devotees to switch from their more fulsome coverage on Sky and BT Sports, the weekly round-up, plus the key live games – streamed live – will attract that tier of football fans who are interested but not to the level of paying ten times the amount a Prime membership costs each year to watch the games.
This taps nicely into a mid-range customer base and is likely to attract many more Amazon regulars to sign up to Prime and crucially keep many more from not renewing – free, next day delivery is interesting, but is it £80 a year interesting? Free next day delivery and a load of TV and movie content? More interesting. Throw in some football and you’ve got yourself a deal.
For poor football fans it means having to subscribe to three services to watch all the games, but without the income, Pogba won’t be able to buy a new Bentley each week.
Joking aside, the move is just another step on Amazon’s march to take over the world and these Premiere League games join a raft of other sports content that the company has added to its growing roster of material aimed and tempting all and sundry to join Prime. Already in the starting blocks are US Open Tennis, ATP World Tour Tennis events and NFL games – all currently available to watch on Prime Video in the UK at no extra cost to a Prime membership.
But what is in it for retailers and brands? Simple – the more Prime members it can get, the more stuff retailers and brands are likely to sell.
There is also the fact that it can also use its deal with the Premiership to promote itself and, one assumes, the merchants and brands therein. One of the well documented advantages of selling on a marketplace is that it has marketing reach. This deal could well extend that for retailers and brands to new heights.
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