Amazon.com confirmed on Tuesday that it has secured the rights to broadcast some Champions League matches for the 2021/22 season in Germany, as the company continues its surge into football.
Amazon has been seen to be plunging into broadcasting top sporting events. The company is using these major sporting events to boost its Prime subscription service rather than a bid to become a pay-TV operator, although its entry into the market is shaking up the multi-billion dollar battle for sports rights.
On Tuesday, the company said it has secured a package which includes the top picks of the Tuesday night games in Europe’s biggest club competition. This announcement is coming days after Amazon UK debuted their live coverage of the English Premier League which was exclusively online in the UK.
Amazon Prime Europe division managing director, Alex Green, said “We’re excited to bring UEFA Champions League football to our customers in Germany,” German football fans are more accustomed to watching football online so this will be seen as a win-win situation.
The company has had the audio rights for the German Bundesliga since 2017 and has just started showing the English Premier League after it won the rights to 20 matches a season including early December midweek games and Christmas games.
Amazon Prime membership costs 69 euros ($76.05) a year in Germany, its second-largest market outside the United States.
Champions League rights in Germany are currently held by Comcast’s Sky, which charges 39.99 euros a month for its sports package.
Amazon has also bought rights for tennis and the U.S. National Football League (NFL) to bolster its offering, along with entertainment content such as motoring show “The Grand Tour” and drama “The Man In The High Castle”.
