Amazon Prime joins Stan Sport and Kayo in streaming sport war
Amazon Prime Video has become the latest streaming service to tap into sport with a new deal with Swimming Australia.
The exclusive, two-year live broadcast streaming deal, will see Amazon distribute Australian Swimming championship events globally on Prime Video at no additional cost to Prime members.
Live streaming events will include the 2021 Australian Swimming Trials in the lead up to the 2021 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics (which will be broadcast by the Seven Network) and the qualifying events for the 2022 FINA World Swimming Championships (Amazon Prime) and the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games (broadcast rights still to be allocated).
“We know live sport attracts passionate fan bases from around the world, many of whom are already Prime members,” said Amazon Prime Video vice president of global sports video Marie Donoghue.
“We are focused on giving our customers access to the best selection of content possible, including the ability to watch live sport when and how they want to watch it. Streaming the upcoming Swimming Australia championship events on Prime Video is a great step toward achieving that global vision, and offers tremendous new value for Prime members in Australia and beyond.”
Swimming Australia president, Kieren Perkins, said: “To be able to partner our sport with one of the biggest streaming services in the world provides us with fantastic opportunities to deliver premium live swimming content to Australians and a global Prime Video audience.
“Swimming is ingrained in our culture, and we know that millions of fans support the Australian Dolphins Swim Team when they compete. Also, our current generation of swimmers, including those who have an eye on competing in Paris 2024 and beyond, will love being able to live stream the sport wherever they are.”
This announcement by Swimming Australia becomes the latest in a string of streaming appointments. In November last year Nine Entertainment Co announced the launch of Stan Sport, an offshoot from it’s streaming service Stan. The launch coincided with a $100 million cash and contra broadcast deal with Rugby Australia. That was soon followed with a deal to broadcast Wimbledon and Roland Garros.
The $10 a month Stan Sport access is an add on to a $10 per month Stan subscription ($14 for high definition, and $19 for 4K ultra HD).
Yesterday, Netball Australia announced a five-year broadcast and digital rights deal with the Foxtel Group, ending a five-year relationship with Nine.
The 2021 season will still be broadcast free to air on Nine, as well as across Telstra TV and the Netball Live Official App, with Foxtel to commence as Netball Australia’s new broadcast partner from 2022.
Every round of the Suncorp Super Netball competition to air live and ad-free across Foxtel platforms including Kayo. Additionally, each week two matches will be available to watch free of charge as part of the recently announced Kayo Freebies ‘freemium’ tier of Foxtel’s streaming app.
Prime Video Australia head, Hushidar Kharas, said the deal with Swimming Australia would ensure Australian and global fans would see the sport on Amazon Prime Video at no extra cost to Prime members.
“Sport is an intrinsic part of Australian’s lives, and Amazon Prime Video has already established itself as the home of captivating Australian sports docu-series including The Test and the upcoming AFL docu-series Making Their Mark,” he said. “The launch of live sports streaming on Prime Video in Australia is a natural progression for us, and we are proud to be partnering with Swimming Australia to bring the iconic and beloved sport to Prime Video customers.”
The first event available to stream on Amazon Prime Video will be the Australian Swimming Olympic Trials in Adelaide between 12-17 June. Key events in the swimming event calendar before this will be available to stream on Swimming Australia’s digital platform SwimTV, and will be announced at a later date.
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Olivia Kruimel is the managing editor at Mumbrella. She has more than 15 years of experience in journalism, communications and marketing. Her journalism career began at Fairfax Media (now part of Nine) and includes various B2B publications such as B&T, Travel Today and ALB. As a marketer Olivia has worked for Standard Chartered and various global law firms.
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