Fans and advertisers can now tap into an enhanced viewing experience with real-time insights when watching live sports on Amazon Prime.
The e-commerce giant unveiled the new feature called Prime Vision at its Upfront event in London, yesterday.
Prime Vision, powered by AI, features advanced statistics, insights and on-screen graphics in real-time, giving people a new way to watch football – primarily the European leagues and the NFL.
Many of the advanced analytics and insights that Prime Vision offers – such as tactical map, passing options and a momentum bar – are used by football clubs, scouting departments and online data platforms.
Alex Green, Managing Director Prime Video Sport, International, said: “Prime Vision combines the best of Amazon’s world class production and technology experience to raise the bar for football fans and offer something meaningfully different.
“European football is unique, and we are going to take the time to listen to fans and add functionality in the years to come, alongside the learnings we have with Prime Vision from other sports.”
Amazon has expanded its live sport coverage this year with the UEFA Champions League, which attracted more than 13 million viewers in the UK and Ireland last season.
Former footballers Wayne Rooney and Daniel Sturridge joined Prime Sports presenter Alex Aljoe on stage to discuss the upcoming season as well as give their verdict on Prime Vision.
Rooney said: “It’s very interesting [Prime Vision] because as someone who has coached, you’re actually getting information quicker than the coaches are.”
Sturridge added: “As a fan watching at home… you can see the [player’s] speed, the shot power, the passing lanes and accuracies that players have. I think that’s the type of data most fans are interested in.”
Among the other announcements included the launch of the NBA on Prime later this month in the UK as well as over 200 other countries; and in May, it will also be expanding its coverage to the WNBA.
As part of an 11-year global partnership deal, it will feature exclusive coverage of 86 regular season games, London and Berlin matches, first and second round playoffs, a Conference Final series and the 2026 NBA finals.
New programmatic buying options for live sports
Aljoe pointed out that with Prime, advertisers can not only engage audiences with its exclusive content, but with additional sports programming via purchasing or subscribing to other free ad-supported TV (FAST) channels such as Premier Sports, Discovery Plus and Talksport TV.
To reach these audiences, Amazon also announced new programmatic buying opportunities starting with the NBA this month and extending to the UEFA Champions League in January.
The tech firm also showcased new ad formats, including interactive pause ads and interactive video ads.
The former enables viewers to discover and connect with brands when they decide to pause a show or movie they are streaming. This format has already been tested by brands in the US including giffgaff, Lenovo and Nestlé, which reported a 30% uplift in brand awareness.
The latter enables viewers to click on an onscreen button with their remote during an ad, which sends a push notification or an email with a link directly to the product or brand stores on the Amazon store without leaving their stream.
Prime Video home to ‘some of the most watched ad-supported shows’ in UK
The move comes as Amazon revealed that Prime Video had grown its average monthly ad-supported reach to more than 22 million viewers in the UK – equating to a 15% year-on-year increase – and audience engagement jumped by more than 25%.
The company also shared that for the first time, brands can reach eight out of 10 UK households via Amazon DSP.
Piers Heaton-Armstrong, Vice President of Amazon Ads Europe, said: “We’re helping to transform how brands connect with consumers by delivering full-funnel advertising at scale that brings together unmatched reach, audience signals, innovative adtech capabilities, and measurable performance – all in one place.
“With exclusive supply and access to more premium publishers than ever before – all fuelled by Amazon’s trillions of streaming, shopping, and buying signals – we’re making it easier for brands to connect with their consumers wherever they are in their viewing and shopping journey.”
Alongside exclusive previews of upcoming releases at this star studded event, Amazon also drew attention to its new year-long sponsorship deal with Hyundai Motor UK for new original movies.
Phil Christer, Managing Director of Amazon Ads UK, highlighted the growing opportunities for brands to engage with viewers through various partnerships including single titled, multi-titled and bespoke sponsorships.
Christer said: “Prime Video isn’t just driving greater audience reach and engagement – it’s home to some of the most-watched ad-supported shows in the country.
“These exceptional results demonstrate the power of sponsorships to connect brands with high-attention, cultural moments that deliver impact for advertisers.”
