For years, the arrival of digital giants has been imminent, according to sports players; especially when it comes to upping the stakes for their television rights. But so far, the forays of Google, Apple or Facebook in sports broadcasts have disappointed these hopes. Conversely, one of the members of the GAFA club, Amazon is in the process of winning a place at the table of competition broadcasters. A strategy that also goes through France: from Sunday May 30, its Prime Video service will broadcast live sport in France for the first time, on the occasion of the Roland-Garros tennis tournament.
“It is a privilege to broadcast an important competition for the French and also to be associated with its future: the new structure of the tournament, with night matches for the first time, which we will broadcast, brings an evolution”, explains to World Alex Green, Amazon’s sports rights purchasing manager for Europe. In July 2019, the French Tennis Federation (FFT) split the broadcasting of the Porte d’Auteuil tournament between France Télévisions and the leader in e-commerce. By guaranteeing the best poster every day for Amazon.
Night sessions
From now on, to watch the night sessions – new for the 2021 edition – and the meetings of the Simonne-Mathieu court, you will need to be a subscriber to Prime, Amazon’s loyalty service (49 euros per year or 5.99 per month) . But the last square of the men’s and women’s tournaments will be co-broadcast with the tournament’s historic broadcaster, France Télévisions. In the sports landscape, the company founded by Jeff Bezos is a newcomer. “The Prime model is unique in the market. Subscribing gives you the right to many advantages, not only sports, but also fast deliveries, series and films, music, video games… ”, explains Mr. Green, about the service which now claims 200 million subscribers worldwide (including 6 to 10 million in France, according to unofficial estimates).
In the UK, Prime Video broadcasts 20 exclusive Premier League matches, focused on two days, until 2025
Amazon’s paid model differs from that of Facebook’s social networks or Google’s YouTube video platform, which is almost exclusively free and financed by advertising. Prime Video also stands out from traditional pay-TV players like Canal + or Sky or from telecom operators like SFR or BT, who have struggled to make a return on their large investments in sport. “We don’t have to own all the rights to a sport to justify subscription to Prime. We can be very demanding and careful in our purchases ”, explains Mr. Green, himself a former BT Sport employee. The leader believes that Prime has built a “Fabulous portfolio of sports rights in Europe and the United States, made up of high quality events”.
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