[TV orNotTV] Amazon and sports this side of the pond

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Adam Bowie

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Jul 1, 2022, 12:51:27 PM7/1/22

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Amazon has just acquired one game a week in the UK for the Champions League. This is the pan-European club soccer competition that airs on Paramount+ (and occasionally CBS) in the US.

Prior to this deal, BT Sport was the home of all games. It's essentially the second sports channel to Sky Sports in the UK. However recently BT and Discovery Warner Media entered into an agreement that would see BT merge with the Discovery owned Eurosport.

The fact that BT did renew its deal exclusively suggests another bit of Discovery Warner curbing their spending.

Amazon only gets one game a week - but it's the first pick of Tuesday games. UEFA schedules games evenly on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, alternating the day teams play. So a Manchester United or Liverpool will play evenly on both days.

Also announced was the BBC will get Champions League highlights airing on Wednesday evenings at 2200. Highlights are still a popular way to watch games in the UK outside of big tournaments, so this isn't incidental. That means some fans will be sated with a live game on Tuesday via Amazon, and highlights of the rest free on the BBC. If they already pay for Prime they maybe won't also need BT Sport. I'll definitely think about that!

Amazon already has a limited number of Premier League games in the UK, but it's just two rounds (of 38) so they all happen in a very short window each season. This is a much bigger move for Amazon, perhaps bigger in a sense (though not financially) than the Thursday NFL game they've got. Amazon's ambitions are clear...