According to a new report from The Information, Amazon is developing a stand-alone app for watching sports. This action indicates Amazon’s continued investment in Prime Video and live sports content. If released, the standalone app would highlight Amazon’s sports content, which is currently part of the company’s main Prime Video platform, more prominently.
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy recently referred to live sports as a “unique asset” in which Amazon will continue to invest. Amazon’s current live sports offerings include NFL Thursday Night Football, Premier League soccer matches, and Yankees baseball games. Amazon has also invested in additional sports content to complement the live games, launching original sports talk shows on both Prime Video and its ad-supported streaming platform Freevee.
Unknown is Amazon’s launch date for the standalone sports app. It is also possible that the company will abandon the plans entirely.
Amazon did not respond to a request for comment from TechCrunch.
Amazon’s plans for a standalone sports app suggest that the company is exploring new avenues for monetizing its live sports investments. Given the high cost of streaming rights, it would not be surprising if the company intends to charge a separate subscription fee for sports content within this standalone app. Amazon may also decide to offer a separate subscription tier for its sports-related content.
Amazon has recently reviewed portions of its unprofitable divisions, resulting in the elimination of numerous positions. Amazon seems committed to expanding Prime Video and its live sports streaming content despite these cost-cutting initiatives.
Amazon is not the only major company looking to continue investing in live sports content; other tech giants have also inked sports streaming deals, increasing the company’s competition. Google’s YouTube secured the NFL Sunday Ticket in a historic streaming deal last week. Apple has acquired the rights to games from Major League Baseball and Major League Soccer.