Amazon Enters Sports-Talk Arena With Daily Slate of Shows

Having secured a piece of the NFL broadcast pie, Amazon is now looking to expand its sports programming with a slate of talk shows.

The 12-hour block of shows, set to launch Nov. 1, will feature hosts including former ESPN anchor Cari Champion, Australian tennis commentator Rennae Stubbs and former Bleacher Report host Master Tesfatsion. Embassy Row, the production company headed by Jeopardy! executive producer (and co-host of the soccer podcast and TV show Men in Blazers) Michael Davies, is producing the lineup.

The goal is to feature up-and-coming talent in front of the camera and a “positive, uplifting take on sports” as opposed to the argument-based format on big players like ESPN and Fox Sports 1, Amazon’s vp global sports video Marie Donoghue told the New York Post, which first reported the news.

It could also serve as a signal to other sports leagues that Amazon intends to be cement its presence as a player in the TV sports business. The tech and retail giant has rights to the NFL’s Thursday Night Football franchise for the next decade and also has packages for the WNBA and National Women’s Soccer League (via its Twitch platform) in the United States, tennis and the Premier League in the U.K., a handful of contests in France’s top soccer league, Ligue 1, and UEFA Champions League matches in Italy and Germany.

The next big rights packages that could be in play are for NASCAR, whose deals with NBC and Fox run through 2024, and the NBA, which come up for renewal after the 2024-25 season (ESPN and Warner Bros. Discovery Sports hold the current rights).

What Amazon’s talk shows will not feature, at least not at first, are any highlights from the previous day’s competition, favoring what Donoghue described as “more deep and interesting conversations” about sports and culture.

The shows will be available for free on Prime Video and other Amazon-owned platforms. The daily lineup is as follows (all times ET):

8-10 a.m.: Bonjour Sports Talk, hosted by Madelyn Burke and Ben Lyons. A replay will run at 10 a.m.
Noon-2 p.m.: The Cari Champion Show.
2-4 p.m.: Sports Talk Game Breakers, hosted by comedians Eitan Levine and Drexton Clemons.
4-5 p.m.: From the Desk of Master T, hosted by Tesfatsion.
5-6 p.m.: The Power Hour, hosted by Stubbs.
6-7 p.m.: The Greatest Hour of All Time (GHOAT), highlighting an hour from the previous programming that day.
7-8 p.m.: The Backup Plan, hosted by Hana Ostapchuk and Jason Spells, featuring clips from the day’s shows and more sports and pop culture discussion.