Amazon has signed another exclusive broadcasting agreement for sports content—this time with Overtime Sports.
Key Details
- Amazon signed an exclusive broadcasting deal on Wednesday with Overtime Sports to distribute its content on Amazon Prime Video.
- Overtime Sports is a media company that uses major social media platforms to distribute basketball league content to younger viewers.
- The streaming service will broadcast 20 games per year for the next three years and produce original content, including a reality-TV series based on the players.
- Amazon is a Series D funding investor in the company’s parent company Overtime.
- “Founded in 2016, Overtime built a large following on social media before launching its trademark league last year. Overtime Elite (OTE) pays its 16- to 19-year-old players a minimum salary of $100,000, luring top recruits away from college on the promise of financial security and exposure,” says Forbes.
- “The first broadcast will be this Friday, with a game featuring OTE’s two most intriguing prospects: Twins Amen and Ausar Thompson, both projected lottery picks in the 2023 NBA draft,” says Axios.
Why it’s News
The purchase marks yet another aggressive milestone in Amazon’s outreach as a company. It has been making some aggressive expansions into new ventures in an attempt to become a leading player in multiple industries.
“It’s yet another investment into live sports from Amazon, which also airs select NFL, WNBA, MLB, and British Premier League games exclusively on Prime,” says Forbes.
As we previously reported, Amazon attempted to purchase several health care businesses that would make it a predominant name in the healthcare industry, it signed an exclusive deal to be the official host of Thursday Night Football for the next 11 years, and it launched the most expensive television show in history in September on Amazon Prime Video.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is also attempting to build his own rival to SpaceX’s Starlink through his space company Blue Origin.
“Overtime Elite is the latest high-profile move from Amazon to break into live sports, most notably spending more than $1 billion annually to exclusively air the NFL’s Thursday Night Football broadcasts,” says Forbes.