Like Amazon Prime Video he will score football goals in Italy too
What will change in football after Amazon enters the Italian market as a broadcaster of sports events with the best Wednesday night Champions League matches from 2021. Facts, numbers and scenarios
Now it's official. After the rumors of recent months, confirmation of Amazon's entry into the Italian market as a broadcaster of sporting events arrives with the best Wednesday evening matches of the Champions League from 2021 and for the following three years.
THE COMMUNICATION
“Amazon is looking forward to the start of the next season of the Uefa Champions League, one of the most prestigious team tournaments in the world. We are delighted to offer our customers in Italy the best Wednesday night matches from 2021 onwards. We know that the Italian fans are among the most passionate in Europe and we will do our best to offer a fantastic football experience capable of bringing them even closer to the action ”.
THE DETAILS OF THE AGREEMENT
Amazon Prime Video therefore played the role of a new inconvenience in a battle, that for Champions rights in Italy, which in recent years had seen Sky, Mediaset and Dazn as contenders. Jeff Bezos' giant has secured the best European Wednesday night matches for an estimated 80 million a year. The package purchased includes a total of 16 matches which, as long as they remain in the competition, will feature Italian teams.
AMAZON AND SPORT
Amazon will arrive in Italy with football only from next season, but the Seattle giant has been working for years to increase the variety of entertainment offered to its subscribers. It all started from the United States, where Bezos entered the most profitable sports market ever, the NFL (National Football League) initially with 10 cartel games bought for a total of $ 50 million.
Subsequently, in Europe, the test field was the most followed championship in the world, the Premier League, of which Amazon bought the rights for the exclusive streaming of 20 games for 105 million euros, with particular attention to those played. in Santo Stefano, the so-called “boxing day”. In addition, many tennis tournaments are planned for Prime customers in the UK including Us Open and several Master 1000. Also in France and Germany Prime Video provides sporting events: for the former there are several matches of the prestigious Paris slam, the Roland Garros, for the latter the Bundesliga, the German Serie A, and from next year also the best matches of the Champions League on Tuesday.
HOW MUCH DOES IT COST IN OTHER COUNTRIES
The main reason behind Bezos' investments (in addition to sporting events, the original films, shows and TV series not made available with Prime, for which about 7.5 billion have been allocated, should not be forgotten) seems to diversify the 'offer for its subscribers, trying to acquire and retain an increasing number of customers for the Prime service. Amazon, despite having the financial resources, does not seem really interested in becoming a leader in the television rights market. In fact, increasing and diversifying the offer to users means being able to ask for a higher amount for the Prime subscription. This happens in the US where a subscription costs $ 119 a year (about € 100), in the UK £ 79 (equivalent to € 87), in Germany € 69 and in France € 49. In Italy, to date, prime time subscription costs € 36 per year. Nothing strange if the share was adjusted upwards after the news of the acquisition of Champions rights.
THE BET OF BEZOS
With this move, Amazon is betting on the potential for growth in the Italian market. The American giant has decided to enter the auction for the rights of the Champions which in recent years had been almost exclusively Sky's territory. (which, after including Netflix, will also welcome the Prime Video application in its decoders, bringing together the offer of six platforms with Dazn, Mediaset Play and YouTube in a single device).
If the response in terms of Prime subscribers were to be positive, it would not be surprising to see Amazon enter the market for the rights related to the Serie A championship which, precisely to get the most out of these future negotiations, has put itself in the hands of the consortium of private equity funds companies composed of CVC-Advent-Fsi, which has acquired 10% of the media company founded by Lega Serie A. The entry into the negotiations of a player of the caliber of Amazon could significantly increase the figure destined for the Serie A league, however penalizing fans who in the future may find themselves forced to sign up to 2 or 3 season tickets at the same time in order not to lose any match of their favorite team.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/economia/amazon-italia-calcio-champions-league/ on Sat, 19 Dec 2020 18:25:36 +0000.