Amazon Prime and Premier League Rights

[Bojan11]

The praise is a bit over the top.

They wouldn’t have pundit teams at every match if they owned all the rights. Probably would use the premier league world commentators and pundits.

No adverts because this is seen as a loss leader for them. Get as many people in December to sub and then forget the following month that they subbed. If they had proper rights there would be adverts.

The future is when premier league decides to sell all games, but they ain’t doing that.

 

[Nick7]

The praise is a bit over the top.

They wouldn’t have pundit teams at every match if they owned all the rights. Probably would use the premier league world commentators and pundits.

No adverts because this is seen as a loss leader for them. Get as many people in December to sub and then forget the following month that they subbed. If they had proper rights there would be adverts.

The future is when premier league decides to sell all games, but they ain’t doing that.

Who cares about that when you can just listen to the fans?

disregard, I misread your post

 

[saivet]

It's been fine, largely expected as I've watched a lot of live tennis on Prime over the last 12 months. My only gripe is when streaming on my PS4 it's about a minute or two behind my laptop or phone, which is marginally delayed.

You also can't pause, jump to live or go back on the PS4.

Do these same problems exist on the firestick?

 

[GE]

It's been fine, largely expected as I've watched a lot of live tennis on Prime over the last 12 months. My only gripe is when streaming on my PS4 it's about a minute or two behind my laptop or phone, which is marginally delayed.

You also can't pause, jump to live or go back on the PS4.

Do these same problems exist on the firestick?

You can rewind and pause on the Firestick, but not on my Virgin cable box. It’s like a stripped down version with no “Amazon X-Ray in-game stays/highlights” features or no commentary feature.

 

[Member 39557]

Was nice to see Jim Rosenthal last night. I'd forgotten he existed.

 

[DomesticTadpole]

Was nice to see Jim Rosenthal last night. I'd forgotten he existed.

He quite often does the matchday build-up programmes on MUTV and the phone-ins afterwards.

 

[Fluctuation0161]

Really hope Amazon get the rights to more premiership games!

Would they be able to show 3pm kick offs?

 

[Member 39557]

He quite often does the matchday build-up programmes on MUTV and the phone-ins afterwards.

Ahh, never watched it apart from the odd stream of a pre-season game.

 

[Fortitude]

No complaints. The ease of it all is different class.

The ease of use and the ability to flit from game to game and even device to device is a real level up on what other providers, well, provide.

Sky and BT are going to have to up their game if Amazon are serious about entering the PL rights market.

I would pick this over the other two in an open contest without hesitation.

 

[Jonno]

I think I've read somewhere that a single company can't have the whole rights, so unfortunately for us, they will go on to be a 3rd provider with Sky and BT.

I am surprised by the amount of praise for Amazon. It's not as good as its internet streaming. TV satellite will always rule over internet streaming and thats quite simple, no matter how crisp it is, as there's always a risk of it buffering or fading in picture quality, or being 30 seconds behind.

In terms of the coverage itself. It's a carbon copy of Sky and BT just with different pundits. I think people here just don't like Sky or BT simply because of the cost or one or two pundits on there.

It was nice to hear Clive the Red on a United game again though... lovely.

 

[El General 1994]

Come 2022 (or whenever the next rights are up for grabs) what do you think will prevent Amazon from bidding for the biggest package available?

 

[AaronRedDevil]

Still waiting for that app that shows all United games one day. Like Netflix but football .

 

[Spark]

Praise is justified. Loads of stats, easy to navigate on the phone, cool highlight feature.

I'm sure they'd jack up prices somehow if they had full rights, however I'm also certain it would be far cheaper than Sky.

So far, we've been able to watch a load of games with excellent quality all baked into the price of Prime. Basically costs a year for what a full Sky package costs in one month (which is basically because of the football rights they have).

Come on Bezos, get bored and buy up the rights.

 

[Havak]

Praise is justified. Loads of stats, easy to navigate on the phone, cool highlight feature.

I'm sure they'd jack up prices somehow if they had full rights, however I'm also certain it would be far cheaper than Sky.

So far, we've been able to watch a load of games with excellent quality all baked into the price of Prime. Basically costs a year for what a full Sky package costs in one month (which is basically because of the football rights they have).

Come on Bezos, get bored and buy up the rights.

The thing is, if they can get enough content (say, all 3pm kick offs plus their own package of the current quota of televised fixtures) I'd pay extra. I'd even go as far to say that having to be a Prime subscriber and then pay maybe £4.99 a month on top to get the football would still be a deal I'd not think twice about. It's when it starts to get to £10 + Prime that it becomes questionable, especially if you're feeling the need to still have to buy Sky and BT's packages.

Pubs are going to suffer though, I think the fee is something like £20,000 a year for Sky & BT together. If Amazon become a third player with a similar amount of content, that could be as much as £30,000 a year (Sky & BT are already planning to charge pubs £500+ extra each per year from April 2020 as well). The rules need to be changed and either every company has everything, or it's just all sold to the highest bidder. I know that can create another issue in itself with one company able to charge whatever they want as they have it all, but I bet it'd be cheaper than paying a smaller fee to three different providers. Amazon should win that fight as they would be expected to charge less for 'streaming' instead of it being via TV signal.

 

[Thunderhead]

The thing is, if they can get enough content (say, all 3pm kick offs plus their own package of the current quota of televised fixtures) I'd pay extra. I'd even go as far to say that having to be a Prime subscriber and then pay maybe £4.99 a month on top to get the football would still be a deal I'd not think twice about. It's when it starts to get to £10 + Prime that it becomes questionable, especially if you're feeling the need to still have to buy Sky and BT's packages.

Pubs are going to suffer though, I think the fee is something like £20,000 a year for Sky & BT together. If Amazon become a third player with a similar amount of content, that could be as much as £30,000 a year (Sky & BT are already planning to charge pubs £500+ extra each per year from April 2020 as well). The rules need to be changed and either every company has everything, or it's just all sold to the highest bidder. I know that can create another issue in itself with one company able to charge whatever they want as they have it all, but I bet it'd be cheaper than paying a smaller fee to three different providers. Amazon should win that fight as they would be expected to charge less for 'streaming' instead of it being via TV signal.

Goes on the rateable value of premises, my local pays just over £5k per year for both, the 20k venues will be your huge city centre bars, most local pubs will pay between £200 - £800 a month. Think my local was charged £200 for the Amazon subscription, did ask but was half pissed at the time so can't remember exactly.

Also can't see the 3pm blackout being rescinded anytime soon so that's probably not a starter in the near to mid term.

 

[Hugh Jass]

Still waiting for that app that shows all United games one day. Like Netflix but football .

This. All i want is to be able to watch every united game.

 

[GBBQ]

Absolute rollercoaster last night

United v Spurs is on tonight - yay
Sky aren't showing it - booo
Amazon prime has the rights and I have an account - yay
But they can't show it to Irish customers - booo
But thats because Premier Sports has the rights and I have that package - Yay
But I am in Frankfurt and sky go doesn't work in EU - boooo
Actually I tried it anyway and it works (changed last year apparently) - yay
But the sky go app doesn't include premier sports - boooo

 

[DomesticTadpole]

Absolute rollercoaster last night

United v Spurs is on tonight - yay
Sky aren't showing it - booo
Amazon prime has the rights and I have an account - yay
But they can't show it to Irish customers - booo
But thats because Premier Sports has the rights and I have that package - Yay
But I am in Frankfurt and sky go doesn't work in EU - boooo
Actually I tried it anyway and it works (changed last year apparently) - yay
But the sky go app doesn't include premier sports - boooo

Wasn't your day was it?

 

[ROFLUTION]

I dislike the major tax-dodging company Amazon is, but really hope they'll compete for PL rights, as the options here in Denmark arr expensive and full of crappy tv-commentators

 

[LVGSdive]

Come 2022 (or whenever the next rights are up for grabs) what do you think will prevent Amazon from bidding for the biggest package available?

I would imagine it would be dependant on a combination of: how many views these 2 rounds of fixtures have got them, how this deal could increase their brand.

They have the money to outbid Sky and BT combined. I hope this experiment/test has been good for them and like many others have said I hope they get the rights, or at the very least get more matchday fixtures like this. I am already looking forward to boxing day to do this all over again.

 

[RedDevilRoshi]

Really hope Amazon get the rights to more premiership games!

Would they be able to show 3pm kick offs?

Me too! Really enjoyed their coverage and also the option to watch without the commentary was a pretty smart idea too.

They are showing all the 3pm games on Boxing Day, so you’d like to think they would. Would be class if that was the case!

 

[redshaw]

With Sky they do pay a lot, it's difficult to see amazon taking the majority of the coverage unless they really want to take streaming to the next level, which it might not be ready for, even in 2022.

When you look at the revenue and profit over the years of Sky, football is one of those key things that they need but it's not a money spinner. Sky subscribers like to know it's there, it's a key draw but the viewing figures even when you add up all the pubs and clubs is still not a lot, quite pitiful as is the F1 figures still. The subs and football viewing figures have been similar for a long time. For amazon to shell out 4-5 billion they have to see it being worth while, I think they'll start slowly and one day they'll see it as a key package to be the main player in the household

 

[starman]

Quick maths...

Amazon paid 90m for 20 games =4.5m per game (though i think BT & Sky paid more per game?)
4.5m * 380 = 1.71bn per season (nothing for Amazon)

There are 9m Sky Sports UK subscribers (figures I have found from a quick google search)
2m BT sport subs, so on the general assumption they are all subscribed for football......Amazon prime fee: £79 *11m = 869m (however does not take into account those that are Amazon & BT/Sky subscribers already )

Amazon does not necessarily need to make profit on subscriptions, it comes from the attraction of the additional subscribers that may buy other services from them. However just based on the numbers above to break even on the investment they could do £79 base plus £79 for a football package = 1.74bn

I've been a member from the start (around 15 years) and just on its own i think its worth the price, if they add football to it, it would amazing, however i dont think ofcom would allow a total monopoly, or do they have jurisdiction over completely internet based content?

 

[Damien]

Me too! Really enjoyed their coverage and also the option to watch without the commentary was a pretty smart idea too.

They are showing all the 3pm games on Boxing Day, so you’d like to think they would. Would be class if that was the case!

Because Boxing Day isn't on Saturday.

 

[Sandikan]

Me too! Really enjoyed their coverage and also the option to watch without the commentary was a pretty smart idea too.

They are showing all the 3pm games on Boxing Day, so you’d like to think they would. Would be class if that was the case!

Boxing day isn't a Saturday!
That's the whole point. 3pm sats are the ban.

 

[JJ12]

Been a big fan of it thus far

 

[One Night Only]

Anyone watching the Newcastle game thinking the right side of the camera looks a different colour? Grass looks yellow kinds

 

[Adam-Utd]

Was just thinking with our match last night, how good is it to hear Clive tlydesley commentating again.

brings be back immediate memories of united playing champions league footy on ITV. Those were the days!

 

[reddev3]

Love it. Was able to re watch the utd game before sleep yesterday, normally have to look up some rubbish high lights on youtube.

 

[MsNuno]

It's great so far highlights have been good, also the whole game repeated much better than anything sky or bt do. Shame there's only one more round of games this season!

 

[Yagami]

Was just thinking with our match last night, how good is it to hear Clive tlydesley commentating again.

brings be back immediate memories of united playing champions league footy on ITV. Those were the days!

"Full steam ahead, Barcelona!"

 

[Adam-Utd]

"Full steam ahead, Barcelona!"

Sheesh feels like a different life.

 

[Berbaclass]

This is in 4K isn't it? my eyes arent playing tricks on me? I could swear this looks just as good as BT Sport Ultimate.

 

[Judas]

Was just thinking with our match last night, how good is it to hear Clive tlydesley commentating again.

brings be back immediate memories of united playing champions league footy on ITV. Those were the days!

I don't understand why Sky didn't hire him decades ago honestly. He's still brilliant.

 

[Heinzesight]

Enjoyed Amazon’s coverage...ruined by Pardiola’s jumper.

 

[Fortitude]

With Sky they do pay a lot, it's difficult to see amazon taking the majority of the coverage unless they really want to take streaming to the next level, which it might not be ready for, even in 2022.

When you look at the revenue and profit over the years of Sky, football is one of those key things that they need but it's not a money spinner. Sky subscribers like to know it's there, it's a key draw but the viewing figures even when you add up all the pubs and clubs is still not a lot, quite pitiful as is the F1 figures still. The subs and football viewing figures have been similar for a long time. For amazon to shell out 4-5 billion they have to see it being worth while, I think they'll start slowly and one day they'll see it as a key package to be the main player in the household

As someone else pointed out, the boon for Amazon would be subscribers then using their other services. Also, there's no way the price for Prime with footy wouldn't go up.

It would be great for the consumer if Amazon do muscle in on Sky's monopoly; at the very least, it will force a reaction and for Sky to compete with the new boy on the block.

Practically everyone in the office was glowing and showering as much praise on Amazon for the games they've put on, just as on here, I think the consumer is more than ready to take the leap if, and when, it is provided.

 

[RedDevilRoshi]

Because Boxing Day isn't on Saturday.

Boxing day isn't a Saturday!
That's the whole point. 3pm sats are the ban.

Oh dear! Apologies, me bad!

 

[sammsky1]

It's great so far highlights have been good, also the whole game repeated much better than anything sky or bt do. Shame there's only one more round of games this season!

I’d imagine this season is a test market for Amazon. They will get qualitative feedback and do the analytics on whether becoming a major player like BT/Sky will help grow their business.

If they were able to gain a majority of the games, I’d happily increase my Prime membership. In fact given Prime also has great content, I’d probably do away with my Sky.

I have a feeling amazon will be in this big time within 2 seasons.

 

[marktan]

I’d imagine this season is a test market for Amazon. They will get qualitative feedback and do the analytics on whether becoming a major player like BT/Sky will help grow their business.

If they were able to gain a majority of the games, I’d happily increase my Prime membership. In fact given Prime also has great content, I’d probably do away with my Sky.

I have a feeling amazon will be in this big time within 2 seasons.

I'd pay more too as a monthly fee if they had more games, but I think they have the 3 year package for the same set of games, so it'd be 2022 before they'd be able to offer more premier league games.

 

[sammsky1]

I'd pay more too as a monthly fee if they had more games, but I think they have the 3 year package for the same set of games, so it'd be 2022 before they'd be able to offer more premier league games.

Never knew that. Hmm. A shame we’ll have to wait that long.