Next on the list for Amazon dominance: Sports networks

Nov 20, 2018, 3:57 PM

(AP)

MyNorthwest.com

Amazon has its sights set on another new market, evidenced by the company’s bid on 22 Fox regional sports networks.

First reported by CNBC, Amazon is targeting the collection of regional sports networks that Disney got as part of its deal to acquire 21st Century Fox. Among the stations on the table is New York’s YES Network, known for broadcasting Yankees baseball and Nets basketball.

Amazon has already made headway into the world of sports, spending $130 million over the next two years for the rights to broadcast Thursday Night Football. Since it first started streaming select NFL football games in 2017, Amazon has seen a massive increase in viewership year-over-year.

The company still has a long road ahead of it before anything is official. Also bidding on the Fox sports networks were Apollo Management Group, KKR, The Blackstone Group, Sinclair Broadcast Group, and Tegna. Fox themselves did not submit a bid, but sources tell CNBC that it could enter the ring in the second round of bidding, due by the end of 2018.

Disney is being forced to sell the networks in the first place as a condition of its acquisition of 21st Century Fox.

Every lane is Amazon’s lane

Amazon has made a concerted effort to continually expand outside of its massive online marketplace. The company is considering the possibility of opening 3,000 cashierless grocery stores by 2021, following the 10 planned locations on the docket for the end of 2018.

Amazon also has designs of launching its own digital pharmacy, already has a collection of brick-and-mortar bookstores, and CEO Jeff Bezos has his eyes on the next generation of space travel.

Whatever it plans to do with 22 regional sports networks, it’s clear that the company’s run of dominance doesn’t seem to be slowing down any time soon.

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