Amazon seeks new inroads into sports streaming sector following NFL snub
Amazon is to redouble its efforts to become a significant player in the sports streaming sector after its much vaunted bid to stream live NFL games fell flat.
Unperturbed by this failure Amazon is now on the look-out for alternative sports to screen using its ever growing Prime Video service and has appointed James DeLorenzo as head of its newly formed sports group to make these ambitions real.
Whilst Amazon has a huge war chest at its disposal to make an impact, frugal executives are keen to ensure maximum bang for their bucks by not overpaying for licenses, a tactic borne out of their auction approach for the right to air 10 Thursday night NFL games for which they bid a relatively modest $15m – albeit they lost the deal to Twitter who bid even less with just $10m.
DeLorenzo arrives at Amazon from Relativity Media having previously run digital video content for Sports Illustrated and helped compile Time Inc’s 120 Sports video joint venture.