Pursuit of Live Sports Streaming Rights Gathering Pace?

News that Amazon is in talks for live game rights with leagues including NBA, MLB, NFL and MLS for its Prime video service is another sign that traditional pay-TV’s most prized possession is coming under serious threat.

Interestingly, it’s not just premium sport that Amazon is hunting. The e-commerce giant is said to also be targeting tier-2 sports, such as Surfing and Lacrosse, maybe as a primer for the bigger live sports events, or to get a foot into into niche markets where you wouldn’t necessarily get the viewers or subscribers over traditional broadcast TV.

Twitter’s own ambitions for live sports with Thursday night NFL received mixed reactions on its debut – some saying the delay in the live Twitter feed was spoiling their enjoyment of the game, while others hailed it a roaring success, with messages of “pretty freaking awesome” and “The future is here” echoing through the social media expanse. With sports being the last bastion of pay-TV operator content, the pursuit of live sports streaming rights by the likes of Amazon, Twitter and Facebook, is one to surely keep an eye on.

Just how far pay-TV companies will go to resist this onslaught or adapt to the changing media environment remains to be seen. Watch this space!

Are you planning on live streaming your favorite sport on Twitter on another online platform? Share your thoughts with us.