BERLIN - Amazon.com has secured the rights to broadcast top European soccer Champions League matches for the 2021/22 season in Germany, the U.S. company said on Tuesday.
Amazon said it would be broadcasting Champions League matches on Tuesday evenings from 2021.
"We’re excited to bring UEFA Champions League football to our customers in Germany," Alex Green, managing director at Amazon's Prime Video Sport Europe division, said in a statement.
Amazon's move into broadcasting top sports events is seen as a way to boost its Prime subscription service rather than a bid to become a pay-TV operator, although its entry into the market is shaking up the multi-billion dollar battle for sports rights.
The company has had the audio rights for the German Bundesliga since 2017 and has just started showing the English Premier League after it won the rights to 20 matches a season including early December midweek games and Christmas games.
Amazon Prime membership costs 69 euros ($76.05) a year in Germany, its second largest market outside the United States.
Champions League rights in Germany are currently held by Comcast's Sky, which charges 39.99 euros a month for its sport package.
Amazon has also bought rights for tennis and the U.S. National Football League (NFL) to bolster its offering, along with entertainment content such as motoring show “The Grand Tour” and drama “The Man In The High Castle”.
($1 = 0.9073 euros)
(Reporting by Emma Thomasson; editing by Michelle Martin and Jason Neely) ((+49 30 2888 5081; Reuters Messaging: emma.thomasson.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))
