Amazon has givendetails of its coverage of its line-up as it prepares to take over thebroadcast of the French football league.
Amazon willreportedly be paying €250 million per season for 80% of available matches, muchto the extreme disappointment of rivals Canal+, who had agreed to pay aneye-watering €332 million for the remaining 20%.
The first match,Monaco v FC Nantes, is live this evening (Friday) from 21.00.
Amazon Prime membersmust pay a €12.99 a month supplement for the Le Pass Ligue 1 channel, whichwill broadcast over 300 matches per month, including a four-match simulcast onSunday afternoons.
The Ligue 1 multiplexwill be presented by Karim Bennani.
French legend andWorld Cup winner Thierry Henry will be on the expert panel for the coverage.
The amazing partabout this coverage is fans will be introduced to a new feature called StadiumFX from the start of the season. They will have an option of not listening tothe commentary and just enjoy the ambient sound of fans from stadiums.
“We are delighted tohave built this exceptional team of French football consultants and experts,”said Alex Green, Prime Video Sport’s Managing Director for Europe.
“Each week they will be the faces of our Ligue1 broadcast on Prime Video and will bring all their expertise and passion forthe game to subscribers. This is just the beginning for us and we will belooking to innovate throughout the season, with the main aim of satisfyingfootball fans.”
“We think it is afair price. It will make watching soccer accessible both in terms of costs andusage,” Alex Green said regarding the pricing.
Fans in India willhave to wait to find out if matches will be broadcast on TV in the country. Asof now, Ligue 1 does not have any broadcast partners for India, as revealed ontheir official website.
But, this couldchange as India is one of Amazon's biggest market for PrimeVideo.
For Ligue 2, Amazonhas agreed a partnership with La Chaîne L'Équipe, the terrestrial sportschannel owned by the Amaury Group, to air the first ten rounds of the Frenchsecond tier for free. After that, all Ligue 2 games will be aired exclusivelyon Prime Video.