Will Amazon take over tennis?

Amazon went from a small book seller on the web to the internet's home for online shopping. And now, according to the Washington Post, the e-commerce giant is on the verge of "building a sports media empire." Amazon has streaming rights to the NFL, NBA, and many other sports. Could tennis be next?

It turns out that Amazon's initial move into sports streaming rights actually began with tennis. Back in 2017, Amazon acquired the rights to exclusively stream the U.S. Open tennis tournament in the United Kingdom. And it's reported that, "Amazon’s U.K.-only U.S. Open deal eventually led to its landmark partnership with the Premier League." 

Later, "Amazon slowly built its sports portfolio, adding the NFL (including a game on Black Friday), NASCAR and the WNBA Finals, as well as Champions League soccer and Grand Slam tennis events in Europe."

Above: Arthur Ashe Stadium at the US Open. Photo credit: Dustin Satloff/USTA.

Fast forward to last week. Amazon's recent deal with the almighty NBA cost a whopping "$20 billion over 11 years for NBA and WNBA games, including six NBA conference finals, the annual playoff play-in tournament and three WNBA Finals." 

But why would Amazon want to become the ESPN for online shoppers? Consider: "Prime Video received around 100,000 new sign-ups on its peak day leading into its first exclusive NFL game." In the end, "Amazon wants to add — and retain — Prime customers and keep them shopping." 

Bezos' behemoth is playing for keeps. WP reports, "It's business model is different than that of traditional media companies, which rely on selling advertising and charging cable companies to distribute their channels. Amazon is in a different business: using sports to sell more 'everything.'"

According to Rich Greenfield, founder of LightShed Partners, a media venture fund, "They have the most compelling closed-loop system there is... You’re able to take content that people are immersed in [and] show them ads on products they might want to consider.”  

More than 200 million Amazon Prime members worldwide is a big audience for sports. And Amazon is clearly willing to shell out billions for sports streaming rights. They began small with tennis. But bigger plans could be in the works.

Above: New 4-part docuseries, Uninterrupted's Top Class Tennis, available on Amazon Prime. Source: Amazon MGM Studios.

Just this month, Amazon showcased another investment into tennis when they released a slick 4-part docuseries, Top Class Tennis, that focuses on promising junior players.

Jay Marine, head of Amazon Prime’s sports division, told WP that its big move into sports is serious: "We will now have 12 months of sports, and the good news is that it’s working.”

Looking to the future, Marine said, "I believe we will be a major sports broadcaster in every major market around the globe.”

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Written by Florida Tennis' Executive Editor and Publisher Matt Pressman. Source: Washington Post. Header: Amazon.