Amazon seizes ATP Tour rights in UK and US as live programming push progresses
Amazon has made another momentous move into the world of live sports programming by investing in four years of live ATP Tour tennis.
Amazon greatly expands sports offering with ATP partnership / ATP Twitter
The investment will see the retailer take the men’s tour rights from current holder Sky in the UK from 2019. It will be packaged alongside 40 individual channel subscriptions including Discovery, Eurosport Player and hayu.
The US rights also come under its wing. The partnership grants it online-only coverage of some 37 Tour events that reportedly excludes Finals and Grand Slams in its current form. At Amazon's disposal are some 2,000 matches, a chunk that will help fill out its content library.
Chris Kermode, executive chairman and president of the ATP Tour, said that it was “looking to the future” with the arrangement.
"We're really trying to find ways to be innovative, creative and be aware of the changing landscape of how people are consuming sports and entertainment and trying to get a younger demographic.
"This change is coming at such a fast pace and we want to be at the forefront of this. This is not just about taking a cheque. We want the weight of Amazon to get behind the sport and that was really one of the deciding factors.
"The opportunities are endless and I think this will be one of the most successful sporting partnerships probably this decade."
The broadcaster is slowly expanding into live programming which naturally involves sport. Look only to how it has handled its Thursday Night NFL package to see how it plans to deliver such experiences. Viewership on the Thursday Night games are perhaps lower than Amazon would like behind its Prime paywall however.
As platforms like Amazon, Twitter and even Facebook express interest in moving into the broadcasting space, the purpose and positioning of traditional broadcasters inevitably come into question.