AMAZON THREAT TO SKY AND BT
Online giants in talks for Premier League rights
AMAZON are to mount a bid for Premier League football rights that could ignite a multibillion-pound bidding war. In a challenge to Sky and BT, the internet giants are thought to have already held talks about streaming matches online.
Amazon have snapped up rights for the ATP tennis tour, American football and are making documentaries about Manchester City and the McLaren F1 team.
But bosses are thought to believe that more top-flight sports will draw in new subscribers to their Prime TV channel.
A bid for highly prized Premier League rights by one of America’s digital giants could open the door for big-money bids by Facebook and YouTube.
It would mean a bumper payday for the Premier League — who raked in more than £8billion from their last domestic and international TV rights auctions — as the Silicon Valley titans have billions of cash to invest.
Amazon have stayed tight-lipped about their possible ambitions for English football but sources say they have now sat down with Premier League negotiators to discuss buying UK rights.
A record 200 live games per season are available when rights for 20192022 come up for grabs. There are seven packages that broadcasters can bid for.
Amazon’s entry into the auction — due to be held next month — would pose a major headache for Sky and BT, who have indicated they want to rein in their spending on football.
The pair took big financial hits when they paid a record £5.14bn for domestic Premier League rights in 2015 — almost £2bn more than they sold for in 2012.
And in a sign that they have little appetite to pay more this time, they agreed a deal last month to share each other’s channels.
They could be easily outgunned in a bidding contest with Amazon, who are valued at £430bn — 10 times the size of the two British companies combined.
Richard Broughton, of market research firm Ampere Analysis, who are experts in sports TV rights, said: ‘There’s a high degree of interest from Amazon in these rights.
‘We think they could afford to buy one or even two packages without having to charge more for an Amazon Prime subscription because the extra customers would pay for it. Losing a package to Amazon would not be a major concern to Sky and BT but the big question for them is whether they want to stop them from gaining a foothold in football.
‘They have seen the damage streaming services like Netflix have done to the traditional television and film industries and so may want to keep Amazon and others locked out.’
Last year BT boss Gavin Patterson said his firm was happy to remain ‘a strong number two’ behind Sky but could walk away if the costs became too high. Sky chief executive Jeremy Darroch, meanwhile, has also said he is getting tougher on price.
Industry experts believe Amazon could bid for new packages which allow them to stream all games taking place on certain Bank Holiday or midweek matchdays.
Yesterday a spokesman for Amazon declined to comment. The firm have previously said they would ‘look to add content that Prime members want’.
The Premier League also declined to comment.