I guess there's a balance to be made, but all the networks are probably thinking more of their streaming services in the mid- to long-term (and probably short-term for Disney), so incurring losses for kudos and/or audience will be interesting to see.
I wouldn't bank on Amazon subsidising sport in any meaningful way. I think the world over, sports leagues are hopeful that the streamers will make up for any flattening of traditional broadcast revenues, but so far they've not really bitten. In the UK, Amazon got the tiniest slither of EPL rights - after again the first round of bidding didn't make the reserve. I know the EPL was hopeful of them (or Netflix) making a splashy entrance to keep prices high. But Amazon has notably bought cheaper rights around the world. The same with Facebook who have picked up a few sports rights in a few locations. I can totally see the NFL directly marketing their Sunday Ticket offer via Amazon, but whether Amazon would significantly subsidise that is another question. With Amazon having north of 126m Prime subscribers in the US already, do they really need to incur a big loss to reach the last standout households that aren't already Prime? The counter to that is that if you could only get it with a Prime stick, and not a Roku stick, then Amazon shifts a lot of Roku (and Samsung/Google TV/whoever) households to using their TV interface. Either way, there are said to be only 2m Sunday Ticket subscribers, so not massive numbers. But perhaps that's a factor of Sunday Ticket not being enough on its own to shift a household to a different TV provider. I bet there's some fascinating number crunching going on at the big networks... On Mon, Feb 15, 2021 at 4:58 PM PGage <[email protected]> wrote: > I used to subscribe to it back in my DirectTV days. The ability to switch > to any game is another way to avoid almost all commercials, plus their Red > Zone. > > It is a threat to network ratings though, if 10%-20% of viewers would > rather watch out of market games (which, depending on your market, your own > games may often suck). When I had the package, even if my local games were > of interest, I would flip back to games on the Ticket during commercials, > or if they became more compelling. > > On Mon, 15 Feb 2021 at 8:18 AM Jim Ellwanger <[email protected]> > wrote: > >> Aside from two versions of the Red Zone channel (one "regular' and one >> focused on fantasy football), NFL Sunday Ticket just presents the regular >> Fox and CBS game broadcasts, complete with commercials -- and blacks out >> the games that are airing on the viewer's local affiliates. Presumably that >> would continue on an Amazon version of Sunday Ticket, using the viewer's IP >> address and other info to handle the blackouts. (DirecTV uses the ZIP code >> on the subscriber's account.) In theory, therefore, it's more of a >> supplement to the network broadcasts, rather than competition that would >> draw a lot of viewers away from them. >> >> On Feb 15, 2021, at 8:02 AM, PGage <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> This will be interesting. Given how long these deals are, the hike can be >> seen as something like 10% a year for ten years, but that is still >> outrageous given that ratings have been trending down. Still, even at a >> loss the NFL is still probably worth it to the networks. The result will be >> even more ads, in between and during the action. The morons at the NFL will >> not rest until they have made their game completely unwatchable. >> >> Disney is getting hosed, and NBC has the best deal. If I were Disney I >> would be insisting on ways to get better games >> >> I will be most interested into what happens with the Sunday Ticket >> package. If they partner with Amazon and make the price to the consumer >> reasonable (which Amazon may be willing to subsidize to drive more users to >> Prime and its overall service, it could be another nail in the networks >> coffins. >> >> On Mon, 15 Feb 2021 at 4:31 AM Adam Bowie <[email protected]> wrote: >> >>> I thought this Variety piece on the upcoming network renegotiation of >>> NFL rights was interesting. >>> >>> https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/nfl-tv-rights-1234907305/ >>> >>> It seems that the NFL is seeking to double the rights fees paid last >>> time around. But those deals were done about ten years ago now. Obviously >>> the vast audiences these games still command - particular getting >>> hard-to-reach men, makes them valuable. >>> >>> On the other hand, the piece concedes: "The networks were already having >>> trouble turning a profit on NFL games; there’s no doubt that anything close >>> to a doubling of those fees would make that even harder if not impossible." >>> >>> The outcome will be interesting. >>> >>> As a keen watcher of sports rights, I note that around the world, sports >>> leagues have found the current climate harder to monetise than previously. >>> In both Italy and France recently, the main football (soccer) TV rights >>> auctions did not make the reserves the leagues had set. In both cases, >>> they're now facing significant drop-offs in revenues. In the UK, the last >>> round of EPL rights, which are sold every three years domestically, were >>> basically flat in revenue terms. (France is fascinating - the main >>> rightsholder, a new player, basically bailed on the deal mid-season. The >>> rights were re-auctioned, but the long-term previous incumbent, Canal+, >>> declined to bid. Now the entire French game is in a state of flux. It seems >>> like Canal+, as the only real bidder in town, is waiting to pick up a >>> relative bargain for when the league becomes desperate.) >>> >>> -- >>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>> Groups "TVorNotTV" group. >>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send >>> an email to [email protected]. >>> To view this discussion on the web visit >>> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAD_sJGBw8EQ3BW2zaKmNdzNNGnTnVvAOP-DSkL8q%2BQxqDb8sVA%40mail.gmail.com >>> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAD_sJGBw8EQ3BW2zaKmNdzNNGnTnVvAOP-DSkL8q%2BQxqDb8sVA%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> >>> . >>> >> -- >> Sent from Gmail Mobile >> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "TVorNotTV" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to [email protected]. >> >> To view this discussion on the web visit >> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAKGtkY%2BjsX2F-GK6os1dGHNJdyXXNaa4M0hWXV-PAcjsD%3DSKoQ%40mail.gmail.com >> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAKGtkY%2BjsX2F-GK6os1dGHNJdyXXNaa4M0hWXV-PAcjsD%3DSKoQ%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> >> . >> >> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "TVorNotTV" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to [email protected]. >> To view this discussion on the web visit >> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/156E4700-A34F-47FF-9FEC-7ACE2FA80050%40ellwanger.tv >> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/156E4700-A34F-47FF-9FEC-7ACE2FA80050%40ellwanger.tv?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> >> . >> > -- > Sent from Gmail Mobile > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "TVorNotTV" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAKGtkYKWFO6CEr7L1oWUoMd23-YRJQyX7LSo4%2BGsK2x%3D8UKYTw%40mail.gmail.com > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAKGtkYKWFO6CEr7L1oWUoMd23-YRJQyX7LSo4%2BGsK2x%3D8UKYTw%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TVorNotTV" group. 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