Amazon Bets On NBA to Turbocharge Its Advertising Business

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Amazon Prime Video is hoping that a strong roster of sporting events will give a significant boost to its expanding advertising sector.

The tech giant’s video streaming platform currently broadcasts Thursday Night Football from the NFL, which attracted an average audience of 13.2 million viewers during the previous season, along with WNBA and NWSL matches. This provides them a selection of women’s sports. In the coming year, they will expand their offerings to include NASCAR Cup Series and, in autumn, NBA games. This expansion will ensure that they maintain a continuous presence throughout the year, giving advertisers and sponsors an opportunity to invest heavily for 12 months straight.

Danielle Carney, Amazon Ads’ head of live sports and video sales, expresses her enthusiasm about making a fresh impact within the NBA and attracting valuable audiences that matter to their clients. “As we consider ways to collaborate with our customers,” she explains, “we’re thinking from a multi-sport perspective, allowing us to link opportunities for them throughout the year via sponsorship and innovative branding initiatives.

Carney additionally highlights that Amazon can capitalize on its extensive library of entertainment content, providing marketers with a genuine all-in-one solution.

Last year’s release was a major milestone for us, and Prime Video Ads played a significant role in that success. Sponsorship has been growing more vital by the day, and we’re dedicated to crafting a consistent theme across sports and entertainment. The insights we gather from this journey are genuinely thrilling! Advertisers are becoming increasingly engaged, and it’s crucial for us to grasp their brand essence and reciprocate with our findings.

As a gaming enthusiast, I’m super excited about the major change coming to Thursday Night Football – the debut of Amazon’s very own studio show! This will be the hub for all their NBA action coverage. And guess what? They’re calling it their first ever sports studio! According to Carney, this is a significant leap forward in expanding their sports broadcasting capabilities.

As a gamer, diving into something fresh feels liberating because I’m not tied down by old methods. Amazon aims to carry this spirit of innovation into their new studio, meaning the shows they create are designed with potential brand partnerships in mind from the get-go.

In Carney’s words, one of the standout aspects of Thursday Night Football was being present at every game in every location, as well as transporting such a production off-site. This mobility, he believes, has resulted in exclusive experiences for fans through Allstate Nightcap, and now with Amazon, we have the chance to establish a cutting-edge studio. Preliminary talks with partners revolve around seamlessly incorporating them into this new setup, allowing us to construct something exceptional from the ground up together.

It involves both in-studio and online positions, game integrations, as well as the endorsement of key moments, replays, and other occasion-based chances.

Amazon claims these integrations will be assessed using a first-party measurement tool, capable of evaluating integrations comparable to 30-second advertisements.

Carney explains that we’ve managed to gather comprehensive insights similar to those you’d get from a 30-second ad on audiences. In other words, were they exposed to your sponsorship, feature, and advertisement? Did they only see one or all of them? What actions did they take afterwards? For instance, did they click through to make a purchase, or did the sponsorship influence their customer journey in some way? Essentially, he stresses the importance of sponsorship, focusing on its significant impact.

Similar to Thursday Night Football, Amazon intends to make a significant impact using interactive commercials and purchase-enabled advertisements. This setup enables marketers to let viewers easily buy their products directly from Amazon. According to Carney, this is a “key selling point” for the company.

She explains that we offer our advertisers vast amounts of data points and results, which sets us apart. When considering the massive reach of live sports, our ability to utilize this data on such a large scale is indeed a key advantage we have at Amazon.

By utilizing top-tier sports content, leveraging our existing distribution channels, and linking these vast amounts of data directly to commerce opportunities, this transformation opens up entirely new dialogues with our business associates,” she explains.

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2025-02-12 17:25