Amazon breaks into livestreaming with NFL deal


Amazon will break into livestreaming this fall with a $50 million deal with the NFL, Recode reports. Amazon Prime subscribers will be able to livestream 10 Thursday Night Football games, following a similar deal between the NFL and Twitter last year. CBS and NBC will broadcast five games each, and Amazon will stream their coverage and ads. Verizon subscribers will also be able to stream the Thursday games.
Twitter expressed interest in carrying the games again in 2017, as had Facebook and YouTube, but Amazon ultimately won out. "For us, this is about starting to bring live sports to our Prime members all around the world," said Amazon's head of business development and entertainment, Jeff Blackburn.
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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.
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