(Photo by Joe Scarnici/Getty Images)
Amazon has added the AVP Pro Beach Volleyball Tour to its portfolio of sports offerings available for live streaming through Prime Video.
After shocking the broadcast world by snaring the NFL’s 11-game Thursday Night Football package for 2017 at a cost of $50 million — and seeing positive early viewership numbers — Amazon continues to broaden its reach with a series of lower-profile additions, including ATP men’s tennis events to be shown in the U.K. and Ireland markets, as well as Bundesliga soccer matches in Germany and Austria.
This latest deal with the AVP is more expansive: a three-year contract running through 2020 that include worldwide distribution everywhere except China, replicating the international scope of the NFL package (although that currently runs only through this season). Prime Video will host live volleyball matches as well as replays, highlights and additional content.
The AVP has found a linear broadcast partner in the NBC Sports Group for the past three years, airing tournaments on NBC and NBC Sports Network, and a spokeswoman for the AVP confirmed that coverage will continue for 2018. She also said the new package with Amazon replaces a prior streaming package with Facebook Live.
“We are thrilled to team up with Amazon Prime Video on this revolutionary streaming deal — the first of its kind in our sport’s history,” AVP managing partner Donald Sun said in a statement. “As the media landscape continues to expand towards the digital space, the AVP is proud to join forces with Amazon in offering sports fans the opportunity to watch the best in beach volleyball throughout the season.”
Both the men’s and women’s finals will be streamed live on Prime Video outside the U.S. while one or the other will be streamed domestically, while the other will be exclusive to NBC Sports Group.
“They clearly have shown their technological know-how,” Sun told the AP. “Everything that they’ve sought out to be, whether it is buying grocery chains to producing movies now, they clearly have the bandwidth and knowledge.”
