Amazon is looking to stream live sports

There was an interesting article in the Wall Street Journal Tuesday about how Amazon is actively looking into streaming live sports. They've had talks with MLB, NBA, NFL, etc. as well as networks like Univision and ESPN. But as the article points out, many of those sports are locked into long-term cable contracts, and cable companies rely on live sports as an important part of cable bundles. That means Amazon may look into smaller, more niche, sports at first. The article suggests ones like lacrosse, gymnastics, surfing. So why not boxing? As a global company with deep pockets and a desire for live sports, it seems boxing might make sense for Amazon to make an investment. It will be interesting to see where all this goes, but it seems like there's a decent chance at some point there could be live boxing on Amazon. Amazon Explores Possible Premium Sports Package With Prime Membership Has held talks for live game rights with leagues including NBA, MLB, NFL and MLS If Amazon is successful in breaking into the premium-sports market, it could pose a significant threat to traditional pay TV. While streaming services offer a wide array of TV shows and movies, it is hard to find live sports outside of traditional broadcast and cable outlets. That’s why pay-TV executives have long referred to sports as the “glue” that keeps millions of customers paying for relatively pricey bundles of cable channels. “My sense is they are interested in anything that might be out there,” said Chad Swofford, vice president of digital for the ACC college-sports conference. Amazon could shake up the lucrative sports pay-TV business in part because it takes “such a view of the long game, while near-term financial returns drive the agenda for most companies,” one senior sports executive said. One big hurdle: many premium rights are tied up. The NBA’s deal with ESPN and TNT stretches until the 2024-2025 season, while the NFL’s pacts with ESPN, CBS, Fox and NBC run through early next decade. Many college conferences’ rights lie with various TV networks. And Disney’s recent investment in BAMTech means ESPN’s untapped sports rights likely will land in its coming multisport streaming service with BAMTech, a person familiar with ESPN’s thinking said. The company may first grab a toehold in the “long tail” of sports, like lacrosse, gymnastics or surfing, sports executives say. Amazon executives believe the e-commerce giant can uniquely target a lacrosse viewer with lacrosse gear, for instance, allowing Amazon to land a greater return on a sports investment, people familiar with the matter said. http://www.wsj.com/articles/amazon-explores-possible-premium-sports-package-with-prime-membership-1479757001?mod=e2tw