Inside the New Sports Streaming Wars - Amoh Sports Media | A Column by Nana Kofi Amoh

Nana Kofi Amoh

Oct 20262 min read

Editor's Note

Amoh Sports Media is a syndicated column by Nana Kofi Amoh — creator of Amoh Sports Media and sports media analyst tracking the high-stakes battle for live broadcasting rights. This piece explores the aggressive expansion of digital-first platforms into regional sports: DAZN capturing direct-to-consumer rights for New York heavyweights YES and MSG Networks, Amazon Prime Video locking in a 12-year Canadian NHL package, and why tech giants are willing to absorb sports rights losses to fuel long-term subscriber ecosystems.
Two streaming services have come in hot in the sports media rights race.

DAZN made headlines to land rights to MSG and YES Networks, two of the regional sports networks based in the New York City market.

DAZN Captures New York Heavyweights

Starting in the 2026-2027 season, DAZN will become the new home for live pregame, in-game, and postgame coverage of the New York Yankees, Rangers, Islanders, and Knicks, alongside the Brooklyn Nets, Buffalo Sabres, and New Jersey Devils. This comes on the heels of constructive criticism of the direct-to-consumer Gotham Sports application around app experience, constant streaming failures, and poor user interfaces after just two years of existence.

With New York being a top market for their sports teams, DAZN is letting its streaming competitors know “if we want to become the biggest sport platform in the world, we need to be in the biggest market in the world”, as CEO Shay Segev alluded to with the acquisition.

The NBA Push

DAZN is not looking to stop at just the biggest market in sports. They are also looking to acquire NBA rights for seven former FanDuel Sports Network teams. The Minnesota Timberwolves, Cleveland Cavaliers, Indiana Pacers, San Antonio Spurs and the Memphis Grizzlies are close to coming under the DAZN umbrella while the Orlando Magic and the Charlotte Hornets are in the works of DTC-only arrangements with DAZN. The Washington Wizards could also join the roster from Monumental Sports Network, which partners with ViewLift—an OTT, full-service, cloud-based distribution platform. With DAZN’s acquisition of ViewLift, it has given them a strong case to acquire broadcast and digital rights for a good portion of NBA and NHL teams.

Prime Video Secures Canadian NHL Rights

Amazon Prime Video also locked in a 12-year deal with the NHL in Canada exclusively to broadcast Wednesday Night Hockey across the country starting in the 2026-2027 season. They will also take on the specific Stanley Cup Playoff series in Canada as well as at least 26 national regular-season NHL games. Rogers Communications and Prime Video will work together with Sportsnet, Canada’s top sports media brand, to “deliver more national games with fewer blackouts” across its platforms.

Sports as the Ultimate Subscriber Engine

Streaming giants looking to acquire new subscribers to their platforms are going to have to look at live sports as a way to do so. As viewership across shows and movies continue to evolve to more of a streaming experience, the same is happening in the live, local sports world. With valuations well into the billions of dollars, it is no surprise that DAZN and Prime Video are willing to take a loss to acquire high-value subscribers. What they are seeing with acquiring local rights to MLB, NBA, and NHL teams is long-term investment of fandom which starts at where fans can watch their teams. From there, these platforms can look to bring fans on to other content they have in-house to gain viewership and impressions in those areas as well.