For years the sports media world wondered aloud when the streaming giants would shake up the industry and get involved in live sports rights. For a time, it was a running joke that it would be “the next deal” or “the deal after that” when one of the major streaming companies – Apple, Amazon, Google and Netflix – would take the plunge and commit to a deal. After all, none of the platforms really even had a starting point with live sports and the whole buisness model was built without it. As deals were signed in the 2010s reaching into the 2020s and some even into the 2030s (Hello, ACC!) any major involvement from the streaming giants in live sports seemed little more than a red herring.
But here we are in 2024 and we’re not talking about the future of live sports and streaming. We are fully here.
The incredible agreement between Netflix and WWE to win the rights to Raw at an astounding $5 billion over ten years is a landmark agreement for many reasons. But the main takeaway is that each of the major streaming platforms now has a flagship live sports property. And yes, even though it’s fully living into being labeled as “entertainment,” we’re classifying WWE as live sports given that’s the television property it most resembles.
Amazon – Thursday Night Football
Apple – MLS Season Pass
Google – NFL Sunday Ticket
Netflix – WWE Raw
Now that Netflix has joined the party, that’s four new contenders for every sports media deal that’s going to be on the table now and into the future. The increased competition will help lead to insane rights fees being sustained, but will also lead to a further fragmentation of sports rights. In some ways, it shows that sports rights have never been more valuable, even if the increase in events going to streaming and behind paywalls makes it harder for fans.
Now that the seal has been broken, it’s not hard to envision a flood of live sports going to these companies. Amazon has already added a NASCAR midseason package and is making a deal with Diamond for their RSN coverage. Apple and Amazon have been touted as serious contenders for a slice of the upcoming NBA pie. And given the success of Sunday Ticket, Google is probably looking for the next frontier to make YouTube TV more of a must-have.
The streamers are no longer coming on the horizon, they’re here.
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