London (AFP) – Amazon Prime has declared its first foray into the Premier League market a success, saying its coverage of the midweek programme was one of the biggest-ever streaming events in the United Kingdom.
The streaming giant made its debut in English top-flight football this week by showing all 10 matches, breaking up the duopoly of Sky and BT Sport.
Amazon said the biggest day ever for Prime sign-ups in the UK was set on Tuesday before the record was broken 24 hours later.
A six-game fixture list on Wednesday included the Merseyside derby between Liverpool and Everton at Anfield and Jose Mourinho’s return to Manchester United as Tottenham manager.
“We’re delighted that millions of football fans enjoyed watching Amazon’s first ever round of Premier League matches on Prime Video,” said Alex Green, managing director of Prime Video Sport Europe.
“We are excited to be the first ever broadcaster to bring fans all 10 games live in a fixture round.
“We are thrilled and humbled by the positive response from Prime members.”
As well as the six games on Wednesday, the Crystal Palace-Bournemouth and Burnley-Manchester City games were broadcast on Tuesday and the Arsenal-Brighton and Sheffield United-Newcastle matches were shown on Thursday.
Amazon’s next Premier League action is a nine-game programme on Boxing Day.
The company did not give specific figures and it is not clear how many customers will be prepared to pay the monthly subscription of £7.99 ($10.5) after the end of their 30-day free trials.
