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Amazon pushes sports and scale to advertisers as rights talks loom

Advertisers expect Amazon to expand its sports offerings in Australia after showcasing ICC and beIN Sports deals — though a move for NRL rights may be unlikely.

John Buckley
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India's players celebrate with the winners' trophy after winning against South Africa in the ICC Men's T20 World Cup final cricket match at Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados, in June. AP/Ramon Espinosa.

Amazon Prime Video has moved to remind advertisers of its sports offering and sheer scale in the Australian market, as the platform threatens to siphon even more advertising revenue from the nation’s largest legacy media companies.

The tech giant — boasting over 4 million Prime Video subscribers in Australia and reaching millions more through its various media and e-commerce assets — used an industry showcase last month to highlight the sports and content deals it has struck over the past year, according to people briefed on the presentation.

Prime Video’s foray into sports across global markets, including deals with the NBA and NFL in the US, comes amid a broader push by streaming platforms like Netflix, Peacock, and YouTube to leverage sports content to drive subscriptions.

In Australia, that push has seen Prime Video linked by industry sources to a potential bid for the streaming rights to one of the country’s two most valuable sporting codes: the NRL or AFL.