Amazon's Bid for Regional Sports Networks is Plan to Boost Prime Members
*By Carlo Versano*
Amazon is reportedly looking to expand its foothold in live programming, with an eye on the 22 regional sports networks that Disney ($DIS) must spin off as part of its acquisition of 21st Century Fox.
CNBC first [reported](https://www.cnbc.com/2018/11/20/amazon-threat-to-buy-sports-rights-should-freak-out-media-companies.html) that Amazon ($AMZN) was a bidder for the portfolio of RSNs, which could be worth as much as $25 billion.
Whether or not Amazon ultimately ends up with the channels is almost beside the point, according to analysts and reporters who spoke to Cheddar Tuesday.
Tech companies encroaching on a programming segment that has long thrived on billion-dollar exclusivity deals between networks and cable companies is enough to worry any traditional media executive. Live sports is one of the few remaining strengths of the legacy media ecosystem, said Rich Greenfield, media analyst at BTIG Research. For many, sports are the only reason they haven't already cut the cord. If a big tech company were able to siphon off a large enough piece of that viewership pie, "the whole Jenga game collapses."
For Amazon, it would be the extension of a grand strategy that has been both simple and consistent: drive more Prime subscriptions. Todd Spangler, an editor at Variety who covers media, said "the whole purpose here is to get you to buy more stuff."
Because regional sports networks are beloved by serious sports fans as opposed to casual observers, Amazon's ownership of them could cause even the most reluctant Amazon shopper to sign up for Prime ー if that's what it takes to watch their favorite team.
Still, upwards of $25 billion is a lot to spend on a "nice-to-have" feature, as Spangler said ー even for Amazon. And Greenfield pointed out that this would not be the first time a FAANG member dabbled in sports programming. Google ($GOOGL) lost out to AT&T's ($T) DirecTV for rights to the NFL Sunday Ticket in 2014 even though it was the highest bidder. And Amazon has a deal in place with the Premier League to stream games in the UK.
Sports rights, among the most expensive media properties in existence, were long the holy grail for broadcast networks, and allowed cable companies like ESPN to become dominant forces in media. But as viewing habits change, tech companies, armed with cash and billions of built-in customers, could soon become the worldwide leaders.
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/btigs-rich-greenfield-regional-sports-solves-a-problem-for-amazon).
The State Department had been in talks with Elon Musk’s Tesla company to buy armored electric vehicles, but the plans have been put on hold by the Trump administration after reports emerged about a potential $400 million purchase. A State Department spokesperson said the electric car company owned by Musk was the only one that expressed interest back in May 2024. The deal with Tesla was only in its planning phases but it was forecast to be the largest contract of the year. It shows how some of his wealth has come and was still expected to come from taxpayers.
At 100 years old, the Goodyear Blimp is an ageless star in the sky. The 246-foot-long airship will be in the background of the Daytona 500 — flying roughly 1,500 feet above Daytona International Speedway, actually — to celebrate its greatest anniversary tour. Even though remote camera technologies are improving regularly and changing the landscape of aerial footage, the blimp continues to carve out a niche. At Daytona, with the usual 40-car field racing around a 2½-mile superspeedway, views from the blimp aptly provide the scope of the event.
You'll just have to wait for interest rates (and prices) to go down. Plus, this deal's a steel, the big carmaker wedding is off, and bribery is back, baby!
It’s a chicken-and-egg problem: Restaurants are struggling with record-high U.S. egg prices, but their omelets, scrambles and huevos rancheros may be part of the problem. Breakfast is booming at U.S. eateries. First Watch, a restaurant chain that serves breakfast, brunch and lunch, nearly quadrupled its locations over the past decade to 570. Fast-food chains like Starbucks and Wendy's added more egg-filled breakfast items. In normal times, egg producers could meet the demand. But a bird flu outbreak that has forced them to slaughter their flocks is making supplies scarcer and pushing up prices. Some restaurants like Waffle House have added a surcharge to offset their costs.
William Falcon, CEO and Founder of Lightning AI, discusses the ongoing feud between Elon Musk and Sam Altman, and how everyday people can use AI in their lives.
U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum “will not go unanswered,” European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen vowed on Tuesday, adding that they will trigger toug
The Trump administration has ordered the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to stop nearly all its work, effectively shutting down the agency that was created to protect consumers after the 2008 financial crisis and subprime mortgage-lending scandal. Russell Vought is the newly installed director of the Office of Management and Budget. Vought directed the CFPB in a Saturday night email to stop work on proposed rules, to suspend the effective dates on any rules that were finalized but not yet effective, and to stop investigative work and not begin any new investigations. The agency has been a target of conservatives since President Barack Obama created it following the 2007-2008 financial crisis.
