Amazon on Tuesday night will become the "first company to legally stream" live EPL games for free in the U.K. Crystal Palace-Bournemouth kicks off at 7:30pm GMT, followed by Man City-Burnley at an "unusual" 8:15pm start time. However, the "real test" for Amazon will "come towards the intervals of Wednesday evening’s first five fixtures." Amazon had been in talks with Channel 4 about sharing its rights for Liverpool-Everton with the free-to-air channel -- to "lighten the load on the network, dilute any negative publicity for snafus beyond its control, and ensure a big audience." But the EPL "pointed out such sub-licensing deals are ruled out" in Amazon's deal (THEATHLETIC.com, 12/2).
Amazon is "predicting records" for an EPL broadcast debut this week, with "hundreds of thousands of additional viewers exploiting a loophole to watch it for free via trials of its Prime delivery service." With a 30-day free trial on offer to non-members, Amazon is "privately hoping it can reach audiences of multi-millions" for matches such as ManU vs. Tottenham (London TELEGRAPH, 12/2). Amazon paid a reported $116.5M for the rights to stream 20 matches per season until '21-22 (LIVERPOOL ECHO, 12/2).
