Amazon offers free Premier League streaming as Big Tech dabbles in live sports

Pour out the pints of London Pride... Amazon is footing the pub tab, as long as you're guzzling London Prime. Amazon will air four Premier League soccer matches on Prime Video and Twitch for free in the UK (even for non-Prime members). It's Amazon's competition-crushing way of getting more of Europe on its platforms:

• Last year, Amazon streamed Premier League matches for the first time. It reportedly dropped $112M for the right to broadcast 60 matches over three years (pennies for the 'Zon).
• For the first time, Amazon is offering Premier League on Twitch, the live gaming streamer it bought in 2014 for almost $1B. The matches will be played in empty stadiums, so Amazon's adding optional synthetic cheering noises from EA Sports. And since it's Twitch, you can blast emojis through the match via live chat.

Encroaching on cable's sacred turf... Live sports are a big reason many still haven't cut the cable cord. Now, those soccer and football-driven cable bucks are being threatened by streamers. Particularly, big tech companies that also happen to have streaming (and billions lying around to spend on it):

• Apple just hired a former Amazon sports exec to lead its Apple TV+ sports division. It's reportedly looking to invest in live sports, including college football.
• Amazon recently signed a deal with the NFL for the right to stream 11 Thursday Night Football games a year on Prime and Twitch. The 'Zon first acquired TNF rights in 2017, but this deal is the biggest (reportedly worth over $200M).