As television viewers continue in their cord-cutting ways and shift their consumption habits to major streaming platforms, sports leagues are taking notice. The traditional Big 4 sports leagues — the NFL, MLB, NBA, and NHL — have been the slowest to come around to the trend.
That changed on Thursday.
The National Hockey League's Seattle Kraken became the league's first team to ditch a traditional cable company in favor of an exclusive streaming-rights deal with Amazon and TEGNA, beginning next season.
Prime Video will stream all non-nationally televised games for Prime members in Washington, Oregon, and Alaska, which will include pre-season, regular season, and the first round of playoffs.
Additionally, TEGNA stations KING 5 and KONG in Seattle will broadcast all non-nationally televised games – more than 70 in total – for free over the air.
The move marks a departure from cable channel ROOT SPORTS, which broadcast the NHL's newest franchise's games during their first three seasons. MLB's Seattle Mariners, which held a 71 percent share in the regional network, assumed total control of the network from Warner Bros. Discovery last year.
"ROOT has been a terrific partner for us; we have appreciated their support as we determined our broadcast plans moving forward," Kraken owner Sam Holloway said in a statement. "Today's announcement is a game changer for our fans. Our goal is to increase the ways they can watch our games – whether they're cheering us on at home or on the go. To have both TEGNA and Prime Video as trusted partners is a dream come true. I can't wait for more fans to fall in love with Kraken hockey."
According to GeekWire, Amazon is already a major player in the Kraken franchise behind the scenes:
- The tech giant bought naming rights to Seattle's Climate Pledge Arena back in 2020 when the old KeyArena was being redeveloped.
- Amazon CEO Andy Jassy is part of the team's ownership group.
- The company's name is on team helmets and its cashierless "Just Walk Out" technology is used throughout the arena.
Although Amazon is no stranger to streaming national games — including the NFL's Thursday Night Football package and a five-Cup-race package with NASCAR starting next year — this is one of its first incursions to regionally streaming games.
The Seattle Sounders of the MLS and the WNBA's Seattle Storm also have regional broadcast deals with Prime Video.
According to a press release, ROOT broadcasters John Forslund, JT Brown, Eddie Olczyk, Alison Lukan, and Nick Olczyk will continue on the new broadcast team. Not included in the announcement were ROOT broadcasters Piper Shaw, Tom Glasgow, and Ross Fletcher, who were part of the network's Seattle Kraken coverage.
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J.P. Hoornstra writes and edits Major League Baseball content. A veteran of 20 years of sports coverage for daily newspapers ... Read more
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