Amazon Boosts Sports Streaming Service With MLB.TV On Prime

Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) seems not to be content when it comes to making advances in the video streaming space to bolster presence.

In an attempt to strengthen the sports content portfolio, this e-commerce giant brought Major League Baseball’s (“MLB”) OTT service for Amazon Prime Video.

With this latest move, Prime members can now stream live or on-demand regular seasons of out-of-market MLB games on mobile phones, TVs and gaming consoles by subscribing to MLB.TV on Prime Video app.

Further, members will be able to get information and game stats related to live match by availing X-Ray feature of Prime Video by Watching MLB.TV on Fire TV devices such as Fire TV Cube, Fire TV Stick, Fire TV Stick 4K and Fire TV Edition. They will also be able to stream matches seamlessly.

Improving Sports Initiatives

The addition of MLB.TV to Prime Video bodes well for Amazon’s sports initiatives. The above-mentioned facility will help the company to gain traction among baseball enthusiasts and out-of-market fans.

This move is likely to enhance Prime Video’s offerings, which in turn might attract more subscribers. Further, this service will likely expand Amazon Prime’s user base, which will aid top-line growth.

Apart from the latest move, the company is looking to buy YES Network, which is an American regional sports network of Disney (NYSE:DIS) , to strengthen the sports streaming business. In addition to this, it is eyeing all 22 regional sports TV networks that were acquired by Disney from Twenty-First Century Fox.

Further, Amazon’s partnership with Premier League Football will allow the U.K. Prime Video subscribers stream 20 matches live every season for free from 2019.

Additionally, the company renewed its agreement with National Football League (“NFL”) to stream two more seasons of Thursday night games on its Prime Video by paying $65 million per year.

Amazon.com, Inc. Revenue (TTM)

Amazon.com, Inc. Revenue (TTM) | Amazon.com, Inc. Quote

Rising Competition

Online sports streaming space is coming mainstream, with growing investments by major players like — Amazon, Disney and Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) .

Like Amazon, Disney is strengthening its footprint in the sports streaming space. Last year, the company unveiled ESPN+, its paid sports streaming service.

Further, Facebook won rights to stream 380 Premier League soccer matches per season in Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam between 2019 and 2022. Moreover, the social media giant also streamed MLB games and World Surf League (WSL).

Nevertheless, growing sports streaming endeavors of Amazon will continue to aid maintain a competitive position against Disney and Facebook. Further, its strong focus toward sports streaming space is likely to strengthen its hold in the online video streaming market, wherein Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) is the dominant player but has no sports content or any such services.

Currently, Amazon carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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