In October of this year, an article in the newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore wrote that Amazon will own the most important package of the Champions League in Italy. Jeff Bezos’ giant, currently the richest man in the world, was in talks for a three-year deal for 17 games a year. And the figure was truly mind-boggling: 80 million a year, 240 total. And apparently, in recent days, Amazon’s purchase of the Champions League package in Italy has been made official.
The streaming platform of the American company, Prime Video, will broadcast the 17 best European Wednesday matches from the 2021/22 to 2023/24 season. The Champions League matches will be followed by the exclusivity of the next three editions of the European Super Cup. The match between the winner of the Europa League and the Champions League, usually scheduled for August. The rights of the final remain the exclusive of Sky and Mediaset. On Amazon, the matches of an Italian team will be broadcast every Wednesday, from the groups to the semifinals. Always if there will be qualified Italian teams. To see the games you will need to subscribe to Prime Video. Currently, the cost of the subscription is € 4.99 per month, but it is not yet clear whether a surcharge will be added to subscribers for watching the matches.
The broadcast of the Champions League in Italy is the second sporting moment of the year for Amazon. In England, since June, Bezos has allowed the free viewing of certain Premier League matches: all already scheduled and available on the company’s app. The direction of the broadcasting of sporting events is increasingly turning towards online and OTT platforms. In Italy, in this sense, Prime Video reaches DAZN, a service active since 2018 for the transmission of online matches.
