At a time when many feared the buying power of Amazon would see them push more top-level sport behind a paywall, the retail giant has been dealt a huge blow after missing out on the Champions League TV rights in America.
Amazon’s Prime Video arm has secured a deal to show a package of Premier League games in the UK during the 2022/23 season, as they have done for the past three years. Fixtures like Arsenal vs Manchester City, Manchester United vs Tottenham and the complete Boxing Day schedule will be shown on Prime, which at the time of writing costs £79 per year.
But fans of the Champions League in the US will be buoyed by the news that they won’t have to fork out for yet another subscription in order to see the best teams in Europe lock horns.
Paramount have renewed their contract with UEFA, and they will showcase the action on their Paramount+ streaming platform in conjunction with a partnership with the CBS network. The deal will take them through to the 2024/25 season.
Subscribers will also be able to enjoy UEFA’s other two continental competitions – the Europa League and Conference League – as part of their existing package.
Incredibly, Paramount have agreed a monumental pay increase to secure the rights – they will pay 150% more per season than their prior agreement, which means that the broadcaster will be splurging some $250 million (£212 million) a year for the privilege, and £1.2 billion in total. This is one of the most lucrative broadcast agreements in sporting history.
As well as Amazon, Paramount are thought to have beaten off the likes of Apple, Fox, ESPN and Warner Bros in a bid to keep the action on their channel – and why wouldn’t they, with subscriber numbers continuing to rise as the network invests more heavily in sporting content. They will also benefit from the Champions League’s expansion from 32 to 36 teams, which will ensure they get even more games to show as of the 2024/25 season.
Which Premier League Games Will Be Shown On Amazon Prime?
While it’s great news for viewers in the United States, back in England football fans will need to invest roughly £670 a year to watch the Premier League – that’s a Sky Sports package (around £44 per month), a BT Sport add-on (around £30 per month) plus an Amazon Prime membership (£79 per year).
As the UK lurches into a cost of living crisis and possible recession, some stark choices will need to be made on which ‘leisure’ payments are continued and which are kicked to the kerb until things are better financially.
If you were unsure about whether to continue with your Amazon Prime subscription, note that they have a stack of 20 live Premier League games to show this season….the details are provided below:
October 18, 2022
- Bournemouth vs Southampton
- Arsenal vs Manchester City
- Brentford vs Chelsea
- Brighton vs Nottingham Forest
- Fulham vs Aston Villa
- Leicester City vs Leeds United
October 19, 2022
- Liverpool vs West Ham
- Manchester United vs Tottenham
- Newcastle United vs Everton
December 26, 2022
- Arsenal vs West Ham
- Aston Villa vs Liverpool
- Brentford vs Tottenham
- Chelsea vs Bournemouth
- Crystal Palace vs Fulham
- Everton vs Wolves
- Leeds United vs Manchester City
- Leicester City vs Newcastle United
- Manchester United vs Nottingham Forest
- Southampton vs Brighton