Why Prime Video Expects to Make Even More From Ads This Year
By Movieguide® Contributor
While Amazon made billions of dollars last year through its Prime Video service, it expects to make even more by adding basketball to its live sports lineup.
“This is a pivotal year for us,” Danielle Carney, Amazon’s Head of US Video and Live Sports Sales, told Deadline. “We are transitioning from a single-sport upfront to a multi-sport upfront, so our conversations this year will not be focused on just one sport.”
2025 marks the first year in an 11 year deal between Prime Video and the NBA to stream regular season games on the platform along with select post-season games as well. The company is also currently in the midst of a 10-year deal with the NFL to exclusively stream THURSDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL, making it a player in two major sports leagues.
READ MORE: AMAZON TEAMS UP WITH NBA FOR 2025 BLACK FRIDAY LINE-UP
At the beginning of 2024, Prime Video expanded the reach of its ads by introducing them onto Prime Video shows and movies, further opening its ability to sell ad space. That alone was projected to generate an additional $5 billion in 2025. Combined with the addition of the NBA, Amazon is looking to generate even more revenue.
“THURSDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL was a bit of a wait-and-see situation because we had never done live sports at that scale before and we needed to secure the broadcast first before we leaned into the advertising aspect,” Carney explained.
This major push into live sports, however, has not come without a cost. Paying billions of dollars a year for the rights to these broadcasts has eaten into the streamer’s budget for other projects. Though it has produced some extremely popular shows, such as THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RINGS OF POWER and REACHER, the streamer has pulled back on its budget for new projects, investing the money into things like live sports instead.
READ MORE: PRIME VIDEO MAKES MOVES FOR LIVE SPORTS
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