4 ms·

If I were Amazon or YouTube I'd strongly consider making a bid the next time one of these leagues were available.

by Touche 9y ago

atom-morgan 9y ago
The UFC is up for grabs.
- e40 9y ago
  Why do you say that? It was just purchased for $4B last year.
  - waterside81 9y ago
    UFC television rights. I believe Fox has them now.
  - dagw 9y ago
    Their current TV deal with FOX expires early 2018.
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
fullshark 9y ago
I think ESPN will pivot to an over the top service like HBO has and be fine by the time the rights fees are up again.
- Touche 9y ago
  Shouldn't the service not be ESPN but ABC (which includes ESPN)? I would think that Amazon is a better position because of their diversity of content. ABC can match it, but ESPN alone cannot.
  - fullshark 9y ago
    If Disney came up with it's own over the top service with Disney media library + sports rights that would be so dominant. I'm just imagining ESPN figuring out how to own the Cable + Internet broadcast rights, whereas Amazon would only be able to bid for the internet rights. That alone gives them a huge advantage. Unless the sports leagues decide to split who gets what (which would be amazing for the consumer).
kasey_junk 9y ago
If I were one of the sports leagues I would be terrified of the next time one of these deals come up. On the one hand they are sitting on one of the few assets that still has some value live (though I tend to watch all of my sports 30 minutes delayed). On the other, the entire media landscape is having the margins sucked out of it in an impressive pace. Those rights deals are outrageously expensive for the people that get them. I wouldn't be surprised if Amazon, Netflix or Google snapped up the rights deals at a blockbuster price. But I also wouldn't be surprised if the price was much less than people thought due to less competition as well.
- dagw 9y ago
  Both the NFL and MLB already have high quality streaming offerings today, including more advanced features like chose your own camera angle. They just don't distribute these services widely because TV pays so much better. If prices drop too far, they'll probably just keep the rights and start streaming the games themselves.
  - kasey_junk 9y ago
    Yeah I thought of that as one option, but that means that the sports leagues need to get in the business of streaming video. Now they can dip their toe in it because the numbers are so low, but to support the Super Bowl for instance you'd have to be fairly sophisticated.
    - dagw 9y ago
      to support the Super Bowl for instance you'd have to be fairly sophisticated. That is a good point. Good old cable technology still has some advantages. From what I can find the current record for a single live video stream is 4.6 million concurrent viewers, and the Superbowl consistently gets over 100 million.
    - Touche 9y ago
      Right, which is why I see them to continue to outsource that to networks. Amazon and Netflix are in a position where they have the reach that leagues want, but they don't have the experience with live content. My guess is that is their (Amazon, etc.) hesitation in jumping into a bid.
prostoalex 9y ago
That's already happening. Twitter bid for Thursday package of NFL in 2016 https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/news/2016/04/05/report-twitter-stream-thursday-night-nfl-games/82644498/ https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/news/2016/04/05/report-t... Then Amazon bid for the same package in 2017 https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/2017/04/04/amazon-nfl-thursday-games-streaming-deal-contract/100047568/ https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/2017/04/04/amazon-... Facebook just signed up to stream select UEFA Champions League games, but sounds like they bought extra inventory from Fox, not entered a straight-out bidding war https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-06-27/facebook-to-stream-live-champions-league-soccer-in-deal-with-fox https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-06-27/facebook-...
- Touche 9y ago
  Yeah, I know about those. They are not exclusive deals though. Amazon has the "streaming rights" to thursday games but CBS will still be the primary partner. I'm talking about them directly competing with the networks.

If I were Amazon or YouTube I'd strongly consider making a bid the next time one of these leagues were available.

by Touche 9y ago

If I were Amazon or YouTube I'd strongly consider making a bid the next time one of these leagues were available.

atom-morgan 9y ago

The UFC is up for grabs.

e40 9y ago
Why do you say that? It was just purchased for $4B last year.
- waterside81 9y ago
  UFC television rights. I believe Fox has them now.
- dagw 9y ago
  Their current TV deal with FOX expires early 2018.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]

fullshark 9y ago

I think ESPN will pivot to an over the top service like HBO has and be fine by the time the rights fees are up again.

Touche 9y ago
Shouldn't the service not be ESPN but ABC (which includes ESPN)? I would think that Amazon is a better position because of their diversity of content. ABC can match it, but ESPN alone cannot.
- fullshark 9y ago
  If Disney came up with it's own over the top service with Disney media library + sports rights that would be so dominant. I'm just imagining ESPN figuring out how to own the Cable + Internet broadcast rights, whereas Amazon would only be able to bid for the internet rights. That alone gives them a huge advantage. Unless the sports leagues decide to split who gets what (which would be amazing for the consumer).

kasey_junk 9y ago

If I were one of the sports leagues I would be terrified of the next time one of these deals come up. On the one hand they are sitting on one of the few assets that still has some value live (though I tend to watch all of my sports 30 minutes delayed). On the other, the entire media landscape is having the margins sucked out of it in an impressive pace. Those rights deals are outrageously expensive for the people that get them. I wouldn't be surprised if Amazon, Netflix or Google snapped up the rights deals at a blockbuster price. But I also wouldn't be surprised if the price was much less than people thought due to less competition as well.

dagw 9y ago
Both the NFL and MLB already have high quality streaming offerings today, including more advanced features like chose your own camera angle. They just don't distribute these services widely because TV pays so much better. If prices drop too far, they'll probably just keep the rights and start streaming the games themselves.
- kasey_junk 9y ago
  Yeah I thought of that as one option, but that means that the sports leagues need to get in the business of streaming video. Now they can dip their toe in it because the numbers are so low, but to support the Super Bowl for instance you'd have to be fairly sophisticated.
  - dagw 9y ago
    to support the Super Bowl for instance you'd have to be fairly sophisticated. That is a good point. Good old cable technology still has some advantages. From what I can find the current record for a single live video stream is 4.6 million concurrent viewers, and the Superbowl consistently gets over 100 million.
  - Touche 9y ago
    Right, which is why I see them to continue to outsource that to networks. Amazon and Netflix are in a position where they have the reach that leagues want, but they don't have the experience with live content. My guess is that is their (Amazon, etc.) hesitation in jumping into a bid.

prostoalex 9y ago

That's already happening. Twitter bid for Thursday package of NFL in 2016 https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/news/2016/04/05/report-twitter-stream-thursday-night-nfl-games/82644498/ https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/news/2016/04/05/report-t... Then Amazon bid for the same package in 2017 https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/2017/04/04/amazon-nfl-thursday-games-streaming-deal-contract/100047568/ https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/2017/04/04/amazon-... Facebook just signed up to stream select UEFA Champions League games, but sounds like they bought extra inventory from Fox, not entered a straight-out bidding war https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-06-27/facebook-to-stream-live-champions-league-soccer-in-deal-with-fox https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-06-27/facebook-...

Touche 9y ago
Yeah, I know about those. They are not exclusive deals though. Amazon has the "streaming rights" to thursday games but CBS will still be the primary partner. I'm talking about them directly competing with the networks.