The Southern Ontario/WNY Radio-TV Forum / Is Amazon About To Become A Major Player In Sports Broadcasting?

**Posted by RadioActive** September 5, 2024 5:36 pm

This likely won't happen in Canada, since the Jays, the Raptors and the Leafs are all owned by broadcasters.

But it may be an entirely different story in the U.S. Sources say Amazon is nearing a major deal to stream nearly all the NBA, MLB and NHL games of certain teams down south, which would likely deal a huge blow to already ailing cable companies, which depend on live sports as a major source of their revenues.

You can buy all kinds of different services to see shows, but up until now, the big sports teams were only selectively available. If this deal comes true, that could seriously shake up yet another aspect of an already fragmented and changed media - at least in the U.S.

Amazon nears major deal to broadcast NBA, MLB and NHL games on Prime streaming: sources

**Posted by Radiowiz** September 5, 2024 10:28 pm

$20? When cable used to offer some (or all) games for free OTA?
Sounds like illegal IPTV services just got another pat on the back from their customer base!!

**Posted by torontostan** September 6, 2024 3:35 pm

The business model for regional sports networks in the US is very broken, and there's no going back. We're ok here and Canada since SportsNet/TSN operate as both National and Regional networks, and they both happen to co-own our biggest domestic teams, but their time will come too.

$20/month ain't bad if it has all your local team's local games and you can easily cancel once the regular season is over. If we had that here with our teams, I'd cancel cable in a heartbeat.

**Posted by mace** September 7, 2024 7:09 am

I noticed Peacock has a special monthly rate of $4.99 for four months, which I think ends September 30. At the end of the promotional period "regular rates apply" unless the customer cancels his subscription. Regular price is $8/month or $14 for the ad free version.