Juniper expects Amazon to win battle for sport rights
December 5, 2017
As 2017 draws to a close, Juniper Research has drawn up a list of predictions for the coming year, all neatly wrapped up as the top trends for the technology industry for 2018.
Juniper has identified 2018 as the year in which OTT players including Amazon and Facebook turn sporting events into the next content battleground by bidding for (and winning) key packages in major rights auctions, including those for football’s English Premier League.
The company argues that Amazon is likely to be the biggest winner here. Not only would it gain revenues from new Amazon Prime customers joining mainly for the football, but additionally revenues derived from retail sales by those customers via the Prime channel. This significantly reduces the number of new customers it would require to cover the costs of a rights package.
Meanwhile, Juniper believes that 2018 will be the year for social payments with key launches from Apple and Facebook expected to drive growth in the space.
The full list of Juniper’s top ten tech predictions are:
- Amazon and Facebook Lead OTT Bids for Major Sporting Rights
- Apple, Facebook, Google Bring Social Payments to the Masses
- AI and Blockchain to Power Numerous Fintech & Insurance Solutions
- Edge Computing to Fast Track the IoT
- Facial Recognition Applications Surge
- The Rise of Robo-advisors & App-based Investments
- Machine Learning Coming to Verify Your Identity
- Chinese Cards and Wallets Achieve Scale in Western Markets
- Smart Toys Educating the Masses
- Wireless Charging Market Moves Up a Gear