Amazon secures Champions League rights in Germany

Amazon has secured rights to Champions League football in Germany for the 2021-22 season, according to local press. 

According to the DWDL.de news service, Amazon has confirmed its report that the streaming service has secured a top Champions League package. According to the news site, Amazon has won the A1 package that includes top matches from the competition on Tuesday evenings. 

DWDL.de cited Amazon Prime Video Sport Europe chief Alex Green, who told the service that the streamer looked forward to distributing the competition. 

Rights to the Champions League in Germany are currently split between Sky and sports streaming service DAZN.

The Champions League win will stimulate speculation that Amazon could place a bid for domestic Bundesliga rights in Germany. 

According to a study by analyst outfit Ampere Analysis, Amazon’s ownership of some English Premier League rights has increased that competition’s reach in the UK by a third.

According to figures from Ampere analysis, Amazon – which reportedly paid £90 million for 20 live matches per season through to 2022 – has extended the reach of live coverage to nearly three-quarters of domestic fans.

However, news of Amazon’s win comes as Deutsche Fußball Liga chief executive Christian Siefert told the Welt am Sonntag newspaper that Germany’s own Bundlesliga was wary of dividing up rights among too many competing services. 

Siefert said that asking consumers to sign up to three separate services to view the competition would put a strain on them.

The Bundesliga is currently drafting the tender documents for bidding for the 2021-25 seasons. Rights to the 2017-21 seasons were initially acquired by Sky Deutschland and Discovery, which subsequently sub-licensed its portion to DAZN.