When it comes to recruiting fans, Sky’s no longer the limit
“THE greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist.” If you’re a poetry aficionado, you’ll recognise that as a Charles Baudelaire remark.
Otherwise, devious Verbal Gint from hit movie The Usual Suspects gets the credit. It could, however, be adopted by Amazon as a catchphrase.
Those notorious tax avoiders, who somehow managed to make plain cardboard desirable, have now dipped their toes into live Premier League football.
My first instinct was to castigate them for a chronic lack of originality; the same commentators, presenters, pundits and format as rivals Sky and BT; Jermaine Jenas informing us, like he did on Tuesday night, that this was “a game both teams will want to win”.
But then it dawned that this is what the streaming masters wanted, a way to make you believe this is merely a natural progression — and a reason for fans to pay yet another subscription for something they believed they already had.
For a mere £90m loss leader, Amazon has bought the rights to stream 20 PL games each year for the next three seasons. All you have to do is sign up for a free 30-day trial of its Prime service — by happy coincidence during the year’s busiest retail period, not to mention a potentially pivotal time in the title race.
Last week’s launch was reportedly a resounding success, with record-breaking sign-ups to a service that will cost £7.99 a month after the trial. By then you’ll have been treated to all the Boxing Day fixtures live. Who’d want to ‘opt out’ after that?
One commentator claimed this was a return to ‘free-to-air’ live footy; you’ve got to be kidding. Amazon is the most efficient cash-making business in history; owner Jeff Bezos didn’t become the world’s richest man by giving things away.
The company uses certain techniques to inveigle themselves into your psyche; the excitement at that little cardboard box arriving will overshadow any vexation at seeing the local book shop or electronics store closing for the last time.
It’s all so American — no surprise when you consider that seven of the top-flight teams now have some form of US ownership while Sky is now a fully-fledged Yank operation after being bought by Comcast last year.
It remains to be seen, however, if Amazon have timed this right. One industry survey recently found that 52% of fans said they may cancel their sports streaming services within the next five years. On the other hand, the Amazon model will make it a lot easier for the big clubs to negotiate their own rights in future.
Amazon won’t reveal any profits they make from their Premier League adventure but you can be sure that, if fans aren’t ‘monetised’ to their satisfaction, they’ll be off the scene quicker than one of their poorly paid staff finally granted a rare toilet break.