Amazon Prime Video will use its coverage of this month's Queen's Club Championships to pursue a younger audience.GETTY IMAGES
Sky Sports' decision to "walk away from tennis next summer" has left a gap in the market which Amazon Prime Video promised to fill by "chasing a younger audience brought up in the live-streaming generation," according to Kevin Mitchell of the London GUARDIAN. Amazon Prime "begins its pursuit of a younger constituency" on Monday, when the Queen's Club Championships "bring together the tournament's strongest ever field." It was "boosted by the addition on Tuesday of Novak Djokovic -- with a place left open still for the return of Andy Murray." Rafael Nadal "initially entered but pulled out" to "recover from his exertions at the French Open." While the journey from subscription TV to the "myriad platforms of tablets, smartphones and other gadgets is not a big one," Amazon Prime is coming to the market "with a fresh approach it hopes will hoover up fans who long ago found alternatives to traditional mainstream outlets." Amazon Prime Video VP/Europe Jay Marine said that tennis "appealed as the perfect sport to add value to Amazon Prime's overall product." Marine said, "Tennis is a very broad sport and has a large fan base. People already care about tennis. They love it. We want to help grow that audience, especially with the younger demographic, who are used to streaming." As for "embellishing its coverage to appeal to a younger audience," Marine said, "We'll see over time. We're always looking at ways to make it better but the thing is the game. What you don't want to do is come up with gimmicks, because that gets in the way of the game, the action itself" (London GUARDIAN, 6/13).
