Amazon’s deal to stream the NFL's Thursday night games includes as much as $30M worth of "marketing and promotion of the football league, pushing the total value of the contract" as high as $80M, according to a source cited by Scott Soshnick of BLOOMBERG NEWS. The e-commerce company "won the rights to the games earlier this month by agreeing to pay" the NFL $50M, about five times what Twitter spent last season. The source added that Amazon will "promote the NFL across its platforms" (BLOOMBERG NEWS, 4/17).
DOING THEIR OWN THING: In San Diego, Jennifer Van Grove noted Netflix yesterday "made clear to its investors" it has "zero interest in following Amazon into the realm of live sports." In a letter to shareholders yesterday, Netflix stated, "Investors ask us about Amazon’s move into NFL football. That is not a strategy that we think is smart for us since we believe we can earn more viewing and satisfaction from spending that money on movies and TV shows" (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 4/18).
