Amazon’s little noticed deal that is the death knell for traditional television

By Alec Hogg

On Friday, Amazon quietly announced that it has secured a three year deal to stream 20 English Premier league fixtures, starting next year. The 100 million subscribers to its subscription service Amazon Prime will get to watch these games for free.

The Amazon logo is seen on a podium
The Amazon logo is seen on a podium during a press conference in New York.

The announcement passed with little fanfare, coming on top of Amazon’s recently secured rights to the US Open and other tennis events and some American Football games. But economic historians may one day record this as the fatal blow for old-style television. Because in sport, nothing enjoys greater pulling power than English soccer.

Around the world, television audiences have been in sharp decline for years. Last year, worldwide advertising on the internet ($209bn) surpassed that on television ($175bn) for the first time. The gap will keep widening with online growing in double digits while TV has flatlined.

Live sport is the final bastion of traditional television, the last big reason for households to resist “cutting the cable.” Amazon has now very definitely opened that door. And as fellow disruptor Netflix keeps proving, once a superior business model gets a foothold, the status quo never recovers. Not just in media.

Visited 48 times, 1 visit(s) today