Amazon will be more than a sports stream novelty – soon there’ll be major events on Prime almost every day like ESPN

WHEN Amazon launched into live NFL broadcasting in 2017 - it was an experiment and a potential look in to the future.

Fast forward seven years and the landscape has completely changed.

Amazon's sports output is soon going to rival traditional broadcasters like ESPN.

They initially brought a package to stream 10 Thursday Night Football games for a total of $50 million.

At the time, the NFL sold the streaming rights separate from linear television coverage.

Amazon's TNF games back then were also shown live on CBS and NBC.

READ MORE ON THE NFL But the decision to sell the entire Thursday Night Football package to Amazon in a deal worth $1 billion from 2023 sent shock waves through the sports media landscape.

Amazon has locked down the exclusive Thursday Night Football slot for 11 years.

Almost every NFL gameweek now begins on the streaming service.

And Amazon now also has it's own holiday slot with a special broadcast as well.

Most read in American Football Black Friday Football fits in perfectly with the company's goals of selling items to deal-seeking shoppers.

Streaming has already began to take over from traditional television and Amazon has been at the forefront.

Netflix will join them as an NFL broadcaster this year with two games live on Christmas Day.

Even traditional broadcasters like NBC and ESPN have offered games on streaming only rather than their channels.

Last year's decision to let NBC stream a playoff game and not show it on the free-to-air channel led to some backlash from fans.

This year, Amazon Prime will stream that Wild Card Weekend game instead.

Now Amazon is a regular part of NFL broadcasting - the company has started to make tracks in other areas.

The NBA signed an 11-year deal with three networks for the league's rights from the 2025-26 season.

And there will be no games on TNT for the first time since the network launched in 1988.

The Walt Disney Company will continue to show the league with 80 regular-season games across ESPN and ABC.

They will also show around 18 playoff games from the first and second round, a Conference Finals series for 10 of the 11 years, and remain the home of the NBA Finals.

NBC will return as an NBA broadcaster for the first time since 2002.

The network will show up to 100 games per season across it's channels and Peacock streaming service.

It will also be the home of NBA All-Star and show approximately 28 playoff games from the first and second round.

NBC will show one Conference Finals Series for six of the 11 years, rotating with new broadcaster Amazon Prime.

Amazon will show 66 NBA regular-season games including one on Black Friday.

The streaming service is also the home of the latter stages of the NBA Cup and the entire Play-In Tournament.

Prime will also broadcast around one third of the playoff games in the first and second round.

They took over Warner Bros.

Discovery's package for NBA games in a deal that's worth $1.8 billion annually.

That agreement will bring them 66 regular-season games live from next year, including a double-header in the opening week and an NBA game on Black Friday.

In 2025, Amazon will become the home of live sport on Black Friday with the NBA game adding to their NFL fixture.

They'll also have all the knockout games from the NBA Cup in December, including the final.

And Prime Video will also broadcast the entire Play-in Tournament, first and second-round playoff games and one of the Conference Finals series.

Amazon also has a new deal with the WNBA which kicks in in 2026.

Their NBA coverage in the new deal is not far short of what ESPN has landed.

And they have their own spot on the NFL calendar too, just like ESPN has Monday Night Football.

Speaking last year, Amazon's global head of sports Jay Marine said, "One thing at Amazon were willing to invest for the long term.

Read More on The US Sun "Thursday Night Football never really had a home, its been on multiple places.

"So our goal is to build a franchise, and a franchise thats durable and extremely valuable in year four, five, ten and 11..

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