What to make of Prime Video as the new streaming partner for the Sounders? If you missed it, the company becomes the local streaming partner of the team for all non-national games through the end of the 2022 season. This cleans up a lot of issues fans outside the Seattle/Tacoma area, who don’t receive the JoeTV signal, had with previous streaming partner YouTube TV.
We’ll see where this partnership goes, but right now, beyond matches, Prime Video’s team site will host interviews and post game pressers. This is the type of content that’s already available on the Sounders’ YouTube channel. Obviously, the site could be an entry point to Sounders gear. In partnership with Twitch, there might be opportunities for alternate feeds to the matches such as social interaction, statistics or different camera angles. Team related podcast hosting might be another use for the site, as a crossover with Amazon’s rumored interest in local sports podcasts. But again, in many cases it’s a matter of taking content that already exists elsewhere, often free, and collecting it on a Sounders Prime Video page.
Amazon is such a huge company that all their activity in sports is nothing more than an experiment. To impact the company’s revenue and earnings, the company would need not just a few teams to partner with, but multiple leagues in their entirety. If the company wants Prime Video Sports to become the ESPN of streaming, there’s a long way to go, but they’ve got to start somewhere.
As a final thought, Amazon’s minority interest in the YES Network might just be an example of a test case in the major U.S. media market with a famous team. But with AT&T looking to unload their RSNs, this presents an opportunity for Amazon to again team with Sinclair to add these networks to their portfolio. Root Sports Northwest, majority owned by the Mariners, happens to be one of these. Having an ownership stake in an RSN would potentially allow for easier collaboration on the streaming side while allowing Prime Video to learn more about producing actual games. Anybody remember Prime Sports Northwest? Maybe another version awaits in the future.
Posted by Matt Korpela 
SEATTLE SPORTS BUSINESS REPORT 