Amazon secures live Premier League football in game-changing sports streaming deal
The streaming service will show 20 matches a season from 2019 in a three-year deal with the Premier League
Amazon Prime Video will broadcast 20 live Premier League games a season from 2019, the first time an online streaming service has secured live football rights in the UK.
Amazon confirmed the Premier League deal after winning the final bid against Sky Sports and BT Sport. However, Sky and BT will still retain the lion's share of live games after securing a new three-year deal in February earlier this year.
Under the new deal, Amazon will have exclusive rights to 10 live midweek games in December, and another 10 matches over the festive bank holiday. The games will be available to all Amazon Prime Video subscribers at no extra cost.
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Jay Marine, Vice President of Prime Video in Europe, explained that this would be the first time a full round of Premier League fixtures would be broadcast in the UK.
"Over these two December fixture rounds Prime members will be able to watch every team, every game, so no matter which Premier League team you support, you’re guaranteed to see them play live on Prime Video,” he said.
Amazon is also set to broadcast its new Manchester City behind the scenes documentary series All or Nothing later this year.
Premier League Executive Chairman Richard Scudamore heralded the "exciting" new era for sports rights: “Amazon is an exciting new partner for the Premier League and we are very pleased they have chosen to invest in these rights.
“Prime Video will be an excellent service on which fans can consume live Premier League football – including for the first time in the UK a full round of matches – and we look forward to working with them from season 2019/20 onwards.”
Under the new deal, Sky will have 128 live games per season and BT Sport will show 52.
Amazon has recently expanded its live sports rights, with the streaming service showing US Open tennis in the UK for the next five years, along with live NFL matches in the United States.
You can sign up to Amazon Prime Video with a 30-day free trial now.
