Amazon Prime pivots to boxing after giving up Premier League rights

The streaming service will not broadcast English top-tier football games in the 2025-29 cycle

Alex Pattle
Combat Sports Correspondent
Thursday 07 December 2023 17:06 GMT
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Devin Haney and Regis Prograis engage in heated face-off

Amazon Prime has announced that it will stream boxing events from 2024, having signed a multi-year agreement with Premier Boxing Champions.

It was announced this week that Amazon Prime had not bid for any rights to Premier League football matches in the 2025-29 cycle, with Sky and TNT Sports set to dominate UK coverage of the competition during that period.

However, Amazon – which aired Tuesday and Wednesday’s Premier League games and will air Thursday’s – has now revealed its next move in sports. On Thursday (7 December), the company declared that it had partnered with Premier Boxing Champions (PBC), the promotion founded by Al Haymon in 2015.

Haymon, 68, is a former manager of Floyd Mayweather Jr, and among its fighters, PBC lists: Terence Crawford; Deontay Wilder; Manny Pacquiao; Errol Spence Jr; Gervonta Davis; Andy Ruiz Jr; and twins Jermell and Jermall Charlo.

Amazon’s partnership with PBC follows the end of Showtime’s involvement with the promotion, as the US broadcaster calls time on a 37-year stint in boxing.

In a press release on Thursday, Amazon said: “Today, Prime Video and PBC announced a landmark multiyear rights agreement to deliver viewers the boxing industry’s most significant events, providing fans with year-round access to the best matchups featuring the biggest stars in boxing.

“Prime Video will distribute PBC’s industry-leading pay-per-view (PPV) events in the US, with the first event anticipated for March 2024. PBC PPV fights will be available for all viewers to purchase, regardless of Prime membership.

“Additionally, in the US and select countries, Prime Video will exclusively stream a PBC Championship Boxing series of events, showcasing top matchups among boxing’s current and rising stars. Details on specific cards, dates, and locations will be announced at a later date.

“In addition to the live PBC events, Prime Video will continue to grow its Original sports content offerings, with behind-the-scenes PBC docuseries, live weigh-ins, as well as on-demand access to previous events, highlights, archival footage, and more.”

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