Amazon, Facebook May Make A Play for Live Sports Rights

Investing.com - Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) and Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) may soon be a regulation destination for live sports fans.The two tech giants, which have dabbled in live sports content, are likely to compete with broadcast and cable TV networks for major sports programming contracts that become available in the next few years. That's the thesis of research firm GBH Insights.The firm says Amazon and Facebook have the money and audiences to become major players in the business.Amazon live streamed 10 National Football League, NFL, games in 2017, which were available only to members of its Amazon Prime service. Facebook carried some college football games and European soccer matches in 2017, and will live stream 25 Major League Baseball, MLB, games this year.GBH says existing media rights deals with the NFL, MLB and National Hockey League are set to expire in 2021.Traditional sports programming players such as Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) and Walt Disney are trying to expand their hold on the business through acquisitions. Disney is even launching its own streaming service, which will include an ESPN sports package.