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- Juventus are first European soccer club to launch own channel on Prime Video
- Move comes as Amazon Prime Video Channels launches in Italy
- Amazon reportedly set to acquire Uefa Champions League and Serie A domestic rights
Italian champions Juventus have become the first European soccer club to make their own television channel available on Amazon’s Prime Video streaming service.
Prime customers in Italy will have to pay an additional €3.99 (US$4.62) per month to access Juventus TV, which offers fans exclusive interviews with players and staff, non-live broadcasts of matches and other programming.
Juventus have previously had ties with subscription video on demand service Netflix, which produced a behind-the-scenes documentary about the Serie A club back in 2018.
The latest move is part of the launch of Amazon Prime Video Channels in Italy. Already available in markets such as the US, Canada, Japan, Germany and the UK, the offering allows users to add subscriptions to third-party networks and streaming channels not already included in Amazon’s Prime Video service.
The arrival of Juventus TV on Prime Video also comes amid widespread reports that Amazon has picked up a package of rights in Italy to the Uefa Champions League, European club soccer’s premier competition.
According to Italian business outlet Il Sole 24 Ore, Amazon will pay €80 million (US$93 million) per season for Prime Video to stream the 16 first-pick Wednesday night games during the 2021 to 2024 cycle.
Amazon has also been linked with the domestic rights to Serie A, with the league’s current broadcast deal expiring at the end of the 2020/21 season.
Italy’s top flight has formed a new company to manage its media rights and to facilitate a €1.62 billion (US$1.89 billion) investment from a consortium including private equity firms CVC Capital Partners and Advent International.
Milano Finanza reported in September that the CVC-led group could look to strike a rights deal for Serie A coverage with Amazon should its offer for a ten per cent stake in the league’s new media business go through.
