Amazon wants to add live sports to Prime...and become The Ocho

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The Wall Street Journal reported Monday that Amazon is in talks with leagues like the NFL, NBA, MLB, and a handful of others about live game rights.

...Amazon is exploring streaming rights to multiple sports at a variety of levels. The Journal reported that Amazon wanted to exclusively license NBA’s League Pass streaming product; it is also reaching out to traditional broadcasters like Univision and ESPN about the content they own but don’t end up airing on TV.

Outside of deals like Twitter’s streaming partnership with the NFL this season — which Amazon bid on — it will be tough for Amazon to do something with the top leagues, given existing TV contracts that run through the next several years.

But the Journal noted how Amazon may first start with the “long tail” of sports, which include less popular activities like lacrosse or gymnastics. It could potentially make revenue by targeting viewers with sport-specific products via its e-commerce marketplace — selling gymnastics gear to the people watching gymnastics content, for example.

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