Amazon to bid for Premier League rights

[Jacko21]

In news that will surprise nobody, Amazon are almost certain to rival Sky and BT for the right to show Premier League games.

Seems highly likely that they'll succeed and will therefore show between 20 and 32 league matches, if not more.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2018/01/04/amazon-holds-talks-premier-league-uk-tv-rights/

Simultaneous streams aren't that far away for UK audiences. Pick a fixture, stream it - legally.

 

[VorZakone]

Amazon are becoming wayyy too big for my liking. They're already a very powerful company.

 

[Posh Red]

Would happen just after I've caved in and bought Sky

 

[Sid234]

I can't wait for them to get the US rights for games. I can finally get rid of my cable subscription and tell Comcast to go F themselves

 

[jim]

On the basis that they would likely bundle it into Prime, I'm all for this.

No way I'm paying the ridiculous rates for BT / Sky on TV.

 

[2 man midfield]

Before long it'll be 10 games here, 15 games over there, 20 over on that channel, etc. Is there a limit on how many platforms can share the games?

 

[RedDevil@84]

Maybe they ll start a new subscription called Prime-Sports with higher prices than usual Prime.

 

[ivaldo]

But how will this affect my illegal streaming?

 

[Buchan]

Before long it'll be 10 games here, 15 games over there, 20 over on that channel, etc. Is there a limit on how many platforms can share the games?

Club-specific season passes, where you get access to every game of a team of your choice, cannot be far away. It's annoying paying ridiculous television prices for both Sky and BT (and now Amazon, too) to watch Huddersfield v Brighton for a Saturday early-afternoon kick-off.

 

[RedStrudel76]

Amazon Prime is the best thing since sliced bred. So I'm happy as a Prime member that this might be tied into my membership for exclusive content.

What Amazon want they'll get.

They'll blow Sky and BT out of the water if they want to, they are massive globally.

 

[ivaldo]

Club-specific season passes, where you get access to every game of a team of your choice, cannot be far away. It's annoying paying ridiculous television prices for both Sky and BT (and now Amazon, too) to watch Huddersfield v Brighton for a Saturday early-afternoon kick-off.

Why? There is no benefit to the broadcaster to allow you to choose your own games.

 

[Sir A1ex]

No way I'm paying the ridiculous rates for BT / Sky on TV.

Yeah, because it definitely gets cheaper every time a new player comes in.

Oh, no, my bad. You'll end up having to pay more than ever for Sky, BT and Amazon.

Hey, if we're lucky maybe Netflix or Facebook will get a package each too, and we can pay five companies and us five different techs to watch matches depending on which channel they're on! The future's great!

 

[Jacko21]

But how will this affect my illegal streaming?

The Premier League know that they're leaving billions on the table by persisting with the 3pm blackout. They spend a small fortune trying to block illicit streams. They'd be better served taking a slice of that pie by auctioning off simultaneous streaming rights. It's an outdated model.

 

[Zlatattack]

Amazon are becoming wayyy too big for my liking. They're already a very powerful company.

Long may it continue. I really like being able to order nonsense and getting next day delivery.

 

[Annihilate Now!]

As a loyal Amazon customer, I can only support this move.

 

[mav_9me]

I can't wait for them to get the US rights for games. I can finally get rid of my cable subscription and tell Comcast to go F themselves

Why can't you get rid of cable now? I have watched NBC sports on sling and now on Playstation vue.

 

[yumtum]

Amazon Prime is the best thing since sliced bred. So I'm happy as a Prime member that this might be tied into my membership for exclusive content.

What Amazon want they'll get.

They'll blow Sky and BT out of the water if they want to, they are massive globally.

Highly unlikely they'll fork out billions just to basically show it for free/gain little more subscriptions.

 

[Buchan]

Why? There is no benefit to the broadcaster to allow you to choose your own games.

Broadcasters should be bound and directed by what consumers want, not the other way around. Look at the obscene numbers of those who stream matches rather than pay those extortionate subscriptions - they obviously don't want the limited packages which are available to them via the paid services and seek other avenues.

 

[BigTimeCharlie]

I am a Prime member, I am open to this wholeheartedly. My guess is that they will charge an extra £10 a month.

This may allow BT/Sky to be more competitive with their prices...

 

[RedDevil@84]

So I'm happy as a Prime member that this might be tied into my membership for exclusive content.

No chance that they are just giving away existing customers things for free. Definitely would be an exclusive sports package astronomically priced.

 

[RedStrudel76]

Highly unlikely they'll fork out billions just to basically show it for free/gain little more subscriptions.

They might raise the prise by a few pound, but it is a hit I'm willing to take. Love having next day delivery + Premier League football too.. it's win-win.

 

[Andy_Cole]

As long as it’s not one or the other. The issue is we’re having to subscribe to both Sky and BT. What should actually happen is the Premier league stream every game for a fee and we only have to be loyal to one service.

 

[groovyalbert]

More than happy to see the monopoly Sky have over the EPL in the UK be chipped away at, but how would Amazon's rights work in regards to members in different countries? Would they have to negotiate deals for the rights in each country prime members exist or would this just be specific to certain countries?

 

[IrishRedDevil]

Is that more money we have to spend on another subscription then? Great.

I don't want to have to spend money for something like Amazon Prime, ontop of subscriptions for Sky and BT. All this saturation will become even more expensive.

 

[arthurka]

All for this.. But couple of games here and there will be terrible for the consumer..

 

[RedStrudel76]

And Amazon are Yank company too. Feck Asia and catering to their audiences for too long.. they have ruined La Liga with getting curry-favoured with 12PM kick-offs for too long.

 

[arnoldS]

I would be all for that if they would have all games. It's a joke that there are 3, 4 providers out there that show a few matches and you basically have to get a few subscriptions if you want to see all matches.

 

[goin4glory]

If Amazon and Netflix get involved the TV revenues are going to be insane.

 

[cyberman]

Good, maybe Irish customers can have an American style match choice with Geo blocking that works instead of Sky being cheap and fecking over with one 3pm kickoff anchored by Alan fecking Curbishley.

 

[ZupZup]

Not a huge fan of this idea. The situation would ideally be that Premier League matches should be split between no more than two providers. They are tendering 7 packages though, so consumers could end up having to pay for a lot more channels/services to guarantee them access to the matches. Possibly 4 or 5... at least it's only 2 at the moment.

Also when it comes to streaming... although I appreciate it is from the 2019 season onwards, we still have many parts of the UK which don't have decent broadband available and the roll-out continues to be incredibly slow.

 

[Robbo*]

More than happy to see the monopoly Sky have over the EPL in the UK be chipped away at, but how would Amazon's rights work in regards to members in different countries? Would they have to negotiate deals for the rights in each country prime members exist or would this just be specific to certain countries?

Yeah I guess it would have to be done on a country-by-country basis. I know what you mean about Sky's monopoly but my instinct is that we may look back thinking that football was at its cheapest under their monopoly - when we are paying 3 or 4 providers.

 

[bond19821982]

I can't wait for them to get the US rights for games. I can finally get rid of my cable subscription and tell Comcast to go F themselves

You can still do the same , right ? I am with fubo for almost 1 year now. No crazy cable bills

 

[Jacko21]

Amazon entering the game marks the beginning of the end for the 3pm blackout. The Premier League know where this is headed. And they know they're giving up an awful lot of money to persist with it.

The blackout itself is outdated - by decades. It was implemented on nothing more than a hunch (regarding the impact on attendances) and there is no evidence to suggest that simultaneous 3pm streams would impact negatively on stadium attendances.

 

[spwd]

But how will this affect my illegal streaming?

It probably won’t affect it anymore than the current 3pm block

 

[BigTimeCharlie]

Amazon entering the game marks the beginning of the end for the 3pm blackout. The Premier League know where this is headed. And they know they're giving up an awful lot of money to persist with it.

The blackout itself is outdated - by decades. It was implemented on nothing more than a hunch (regarding the impact on attendances) and there is no evidence to suggest that simultaneous 3pm streams would impact negatively on stadium attendances.

Isn't the 3pm blackout a law, that cannot simply be overturned?

 

[BIGbadBOO4]

Once again the big fat cats will be rubbing hands with glee at even more money. They claim it's better for the public to have rights split but its just a massive lie. Like people have already said we will be paying for 5 different tv companies just to watch our team. Its a joke.

 

[James Peril]

As long as it doesn’t mean it’s stream and no TV/cable. Streams aren’t remotely as good as regular HDTV-signals, with lags, blurring and of course worst of all - dependency on stable internet.

 

[Jacko21]

Isn't the 3pm blackout a law, that cannot simply be overturned?

It's an agreement between the FA, the Premier League and the Football League. They've agreed to uphold an idea that was conceived in the 60's. There's no legal ruling, so anyone who is caught broadcasting 3pm games is considered to be violating copyright. It's regulated by OFCOM.

 

[jim]

Yeah, because it definitely gets cheaper every time a new player comes in.

Oh, no, my bad. You'll end up having to pay more than ever for Sky, BT and Amazon.

Hey, if we're lucky maybe Netflix or Facebook will get a package each too, and we can pay five companies and us five different techs to watch matches depending on which channel they're on! The future's great!

Eh? I said I'm not paying for Sky or BT, so I won't be paying more.

Point is, if Amazon can lump it into Prime, which I already have, then I'll be watching some football on television.

The current position (approximately) is that I have to pay Sky £20 pm for some rubbish I don't want, then another £20 pm for the football as an add-on. And then some more to watch it in HD. And BT is the same.

I agree that if you're the kind of person who will pay for all of them, come what may, then it's probably going to cost more, but for me personally it would mean watching football was actually affordable (assuming Amazon don't launch it as a separate £15 pm package on top of Prime).

 

[Red_toad]

Once again the big fat cats will be rubbing hands with glee at even more money. They claim it's better for the public to have rights split but its just a massive lie. Like people have already said we will be paying for 5 different tv companies just to watch our team. Its a joke.

The cake is already pretty much carved up for overseas viewers. I get all epl games with my mobile contract, but cup games are time to go find streams that are probably a tad illegal.