Amazon will invest in the American network of local television channels Diamond Sports Group, a major sports rights holder in the United States, a sign of the technology giant’s appetite for live sports.
Amazon’s entry into the capital as a minority shareholder is part of the restructuring of Diamond Sports, which has been under safeguard procedure since March.
The group had to file for bankruptcy, crushed under the weight of a colossal debt contracted by the television operator Sinclair during the purchase of Diamond Sports from Disney in 2019.
According to the New York Post, the e-commerce juggernaut paid some $100 million for this participation.
Asked by AFP to confirm this figure as well as the level of Amazon’s participation, Diamond Sports and Amazon did not immediately respond.
The agreement also provides for Amazon Prime Video to offer Diamond Sports group channels on its streaming platform.
Diamond Sports is the leading local sports network in the United States. It holds the regional broadcast rights to more than half of the American NBA (basketball), MLB (baseball) and NHL (hockey) teams.
Several streaming players have started to position themselves in recent years in the world of live sports, a niche with high audience potential.
Amazon has notably acquired part of the rights to the English Premier Football League, the French Ligue 1, the Roland-Garros tennis tournament and the professional American football league NFL.
Diamond Sports channels will be available on Prime Video for an additional subscription.
Diamond Sports Group also announced Wednesday that it had reached an agreement with creditors holding a majority of its debt to restructure it. This clearance plan must allow it to exit the safeguard procedure.
The plan also calls for the split between Diamond Sports and Sinclair.
