Why Amazon Is Ready To Spend Billions On Live Sports In The Streaming Age

Welcome to the latest episode of the Full-Court Finance podcast from Zacks Investment Research where Associate Stock Strategist Ben Rains dives into why Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) reportedly bid billions of dollars for 21st Century Fox’s (NASDAQ:FOX) regional sports networks. The episode then moves onto a streaming sports mishap over the long holiday weekend that could be a sign that the next wave of live sports entertainment isn’t ready just yet.

Amazon bid last week for Fox’s 22 regional sports networks, which includes New York-based YES Network, according to multiple reports. These assets were deemed so important that Disney (NYSE:DIS) was forced to divest the RSNs as part of its $71.3 billion deal to purchase key Fox entertainment assets. The 22 RSNs are said to be worth as much as $25 billion, though it is unclear what they will actually fetch on the open market since Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) helped drive up the overall price Disney paid.

To date, Amazon’s largest-ever purchase was the $14 billion it spent on Whole Foods. So clearly it seems that Jeff Bezos feels that live sports could end up being as important to Amazon’s future as groceries. In the end, the move sets up Amazon to stand out in the current streaming landscape against Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) and Hulu, and other slimmed-down streaming TV offerings.

Looking ahead, Amazon’s move would also likely set up the e-commerce giant to challenge Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) , Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL) , and eventually Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) and AT&T (NYSE:T) in the ever-growing streaming entertainment world.

The episode then jumps into the major streaming sports snafu that happened during the much-hyped pay-per-view coverage of the golf matchup between Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson. Turner, Bleacher Report Live, and others likely ended up losing money on the event after months of promos and an HBO 24/7 show.

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