Amazon is in talks with several leagues, including the National Basketball Association, National Football League, Major League Soccer and Major League Baseball, as well as programmers as it considers adding a premium live sports package to its subscription-based Prime offering, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The paper said Amazon is interested in securing rights to drive more consumers to its $99 per year Prime offering, as well as a skinny bundle of pay TV channels. Amazon said back in 2014 that it was not planning to license television channels or to offer a pay-TV service, but that stance might have changed.
Amazon’s purported interest in adding live sports would come as several major sports leagues continue to open up OTT distribution deals with outlets such as Twitter.
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The WSJ said Amazon have also approached traditional TV networks, including Univision, about sports rights they aren’t using, as well as ESPN, One World Sports, Campus Insiders, and the World Surf League, among others.
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In the meantime, Amazon has put a heavy emphasis on SVOD as it gears up for an anticipated global expansion. In addition to selling its own Prime offering, Amazon has also attracted several programmers and media companies to its Streaming Partners Program.
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