The most traditional of all domestic sporting events is branching out to Prime Video.
Amazon Prime Video has reached a deal to carry early afternoon coverage of the first two rounds of the Masters, it was announced Tuesday. Prime Video will air two hours of coverage from 1-3 PM ET on the opening Thursday and Friday, leading into coverage on ESPN from 3-7:30 PM ET.
The deal is not quite a first for the Masters, which last season debuted a streaming-exclusive window on Paramount+ leading into third and final round coverage on CBS. (That window will return next season.) In addition, ancillary Masters coverage — such as featured groups and featured holes — has long been available exclusively via streaming, from ESPN+ to the Masters Live website and app.
It nonetheless marks a milestone for Prime Video, which makes its first foray into major men’s golf at the most prestigious and selective of all tournaments. Augusta National awards media rights on an annual basis for no rights fee, giving it extraordinary latitude over its partners, and making any change in rights contingent on factors far beyond financial resources. It is not a small thing that Augusta National, which exerts total control over how the Masters is covered, is willing to move forward with Prime Video.
Of the major streamers, it is perhaps only Prime Video that would have shown any interest in a combined four total hours of programming. Netflix, which per John Ourand of Puck made a competitive bid for rights to the U.S. Open, would surely get little benefit from such a limited package. The same holds for Apple.
The Masters has aired exclusively on the platforms of ESPN and CBS Sports dating back to 2008, when ESPN replaced USA Network as the tournament’s cable partner. CBS has of course held the rights for far longer, carrying the tournament since it was first televised in 1956.
