Prime Video is set to become the world’s largest streaming investor in sports rights, overtaking DAZN for the first time, according to new research by Ampere Analysis.
Amazon is set to invest $3.8bn in sports rights in 2026, accounting for 27% of the industry’s total spend. This is partly because 2026 is the first full year of Amazon’s 11-year NBA deal, which is worth $1.8bn per season.
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Amazon’s investment is more than half a billion dollars higher than last year’s top spender, DAZN.
After analysing deals agreed to date for 2026, the researchers calculated that streaming spend on sports rights will rise to $14.2bn, which is an increase of 7% year-on-year from $13.2bn in 2025.
Streaming investment had already been boosted in 2025 by DAZN’s $1bn deal for the FIFA Men’s Club World Cup – a competition that does not take place in 2026.
Paramount+ has also entered the top five streaming spenders, following its new $1.1bn-per-year UFC deal in the US.
Overall, the report concluded that global generalist streamers will account for 44% of total streaming spend on sports rights in 2026, up from 31% in 2025.
Danni Moore, Senior Analyst of Ampere Sports at Ampere Analysis, said: “Since 2018, its first full year with top-tier sports rights, DAZN has been the leading streaming spender on sports. However, Amazon’s NBA deal, which began in the 2025–26 season, combined with its existing major rights for NFL Thursday Night Football in the US and the UEFA Champions League in Germany, Italy, and the UK, means it overtakes DAZN’s spending for the first time this year.
“These rights give Amazon a year-round live sports portfolio in the US, including the two most popular domestic leagues – the NFL and NBA – allowing it not only to attract new subscribers but to retain them too.
“The growing importance of live sport in driving subscriber acquisition and retention, and in maximising ad-tier revenue, has encouraged generalist streamers like Amazon Prime Video to become increasingly active in acquiring sports rights. As a result, these streamers will increasingly provide tough competition for DAZN in acquiring top-tier rights, as we’ve seen with the platform losing out to Paramount+ in the latest UEFA Champions League rights tender in Germany.”
DAZN recently made its sports streaming service available as a subscription on Prime Video in the UK and US markets. Discover more here.
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