Amazon’s EPL streaming key to next NRL broadcast rights deal
Amazon Prime is in the final throes of telecasting the most recent round of the English Premier League and the ARL Commission is watching closely ahead of the next NRL broadcast deal.
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A quiet revolution that could have major repercussions for the NRL has been unfolding in England over the past few days.
Amazon Prime is in the final throes of telecasting the most recent round of the English Premier League and the ARL Commission is watching closely as it counts down to the day when it will open talks with broadcasters over the next broadcast deal.
The success or failure of the Premier League could determine whether Amazon Prime becomes a factor in those talks.
The ARL Commission will no doubt be hoping it attracts rousing support given tension in the market can only drive up the price of the next deal. Amazon Prime paid an estimated £90m ($172.5m) for the right to broadcast 20 Premier League matches per season – one group of matches across a bank holiday weekend and the other a midweek program.
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Amazon is dipping its toes in the water at a time when ARL Commission chair Peter V’landys continues to bullishly talk up the value of NRL rights, although it has become clear that changes must be made to maximise the code’s value to broadcasters.
The idea of splitting the game into four quarters has been tossed up by V’landys but that would appear counter-productive to the concept of increasing player fatigue as a way of creating more space and greater opportunity for attack.
Certainly, making the game more attractive and reducing the impact of poor officiating was high on his agenda when he addressed the media at his unveiling earlier this year. Regardless of the rules shake-up, V’landys’ best hope may ultimately lie in increasing the competitive tension in the broadcasting market and streaming partners will play a central role if that is to happen.
It is something that is prominent in the mind of his fellow commissioners as well, one making that much clear recently, when suggesting the next broadcasting deal would rely significantly on streaming services rather than the game’s traditional broadcasters – Fox Sports and the Nine Network.
Privately, NRL sources confirmed they would take an interest in Amazon Prime’s work in England, where the world’s largest internet company threatens to revolutionise coverage of the Premier League. The Premier League gift-wrapped the packages of games with streaming services in mind and the NRL may consider the same option.
Originally published as Amazon’s EPL streaming key to next NRL broadcast rights deal
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