Amazon In Advanced Discussions To Host Many NFL Games Exclusively On Prime Video: WSJ

Amazon.com Inc. AMZN is in talks with the National Football League to carry more games exclusively on its Prime Video streaming service, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter.

What Happened: According to the WSJ report, a deal between Amazon and NFL could result in a significant number of Thursday night games streaming exclusively on Prime Video. It would also result in these matches not being available on traditional television outside of the local markets of the two teams involved in the game.

Amazon could reportedly end up paying $1 billion per season for the streaming rights if a deal is agreed upon.

The e-commerce giant first secured the streaming rights for Thursday Night Football in 2017, but those games were shared with other NFL television broadcast partners. Last year, Amazon extended its Thursday Night deal and exclusively streamed a Saturday match between the Arizona Cardinals and San Francisco 49ers in December.

The current deal between Amazon and NFL for sharing the Thursday Night telecasts and the Saturday exclusive game runs through the 2022 season. The new deal will reportedly take effect only after that.

See Also: Jeff Bezos Might Be Targeting NFL’s Washington Football Team: Report

Why It Matters: Amazon has aggressively pushed into sports content and acquired streaming rights for several U.S. and international sporting events. Early last year, the company renewed its deal with NFL for three additional seasons with an expected price point of at least $75 million.

The Bezos-led company is also looking to seize opportunities in the streaming-video-on-demand space for India's most-popular sport, Cricket, which is currently dominated by the Walt Disney Company DIS.

Price Movement: Amazon shares closed 2.9% lower on Wednesday at $3,005.00.

Also Read: How Much are Prime, Prime Video Worth for Amazon?