As you say, it will be interesting to see how the calculations come out. Amazon is the sponsor of The Red Zone, and streams I think both SNL and TNF. I think they would find it useful to make The Ticket available at a better price than DirectTV did, since they have so many other ways to monetize it.
On Mon, 15 Feb 2021 at 9:20 AM Adam Bowie <[email protected]> wrote: > 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. > 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_sJGA5%2B9%2BNZKq8ZDfP%3DdZoXooO7%2BTx3ANz%3DnmTLYf%2BpLbSzw%40mail.gmail.com > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAD_sJGA5%2B9%2BNZKq8ZDfP%3DdZoXooO7%2BTx3ANz%3DnmTLYf%2BpLbSzw%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. 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