Amazon is considering launching a new standalone app for its live sports coverage and other sports content, a new report claims.
It could mean the e-commerce giant separating its current sports offerings from Prime Video to offer it as part of a separate product,The Informationreported on Wednesday, citing sources with knowledge of the matter.
Amazon carries a growing range of sports content that includes livestreams of fixtures from the NFL and U.K.’s Premier League soccer, while it also has a special deal with the New York Yankees to show some of its baseball games.
The company has offered no official word on the likelihood of it launching a standalone sports app, though it’s worth noting that The Information’s report comes after recent comments by Amazon CEO Andy Jassy in which he confirmed that live sports were a continuing area of interest for the company.
It’s also not clear when Amazon might release such an app, and whether it will charge a subscription fee for its use. It’s also possible that alongside the app it could keep its sports content on Prime Video but put it behind a paywall.
Apple, for example, is also exploring the space with Apple TV+ inking an agreement with MLB earlier this year to livestream games on Friday nights. It’s also become theexclusive streamer for MLS gamesfor the next decade.
Streaming service Peacock also offers a growing range of live sports events, though that’s not a surprise considering it’s backed by NBC. Content — some of it exclusive — includes NFL, Premier League, MLB, WWE, golf, and NASCAR.
And just recently, YouTube announced a deal for NFL Sunday Ticket costing it $2 billion a year. In a sign of how streaming services are starting to make their presence felt in the live sports space, YouTube’s deal saw it nab the package from satellite-TV provider DirecTV, which carried it since 1994.
