NWSL expands use of Amazon’s suite of services with extensive multiyear partnership

The GIST: Commerce behemoth Amazon is expanding its recent NWSL media rights deal through a multiyear partnership with the league that involves Amazon Prime and Amazon Web Services (AWS). Additionally, the deal makes Amazon the exclusive retail partner of the NWSL and an official licensee. Sports dripping down.

The details: AWS will support uploaded match content from past seasons, while also testing cloud-based production for matches on Prime Video, which is also the new presenting partner for the Best XI awards. Plus, supporters can now purchase hundreds of licensed items on the Amazon Fan Shop, which launched last November.

• Official NWSL kit provider Nike isn’t included in the Fan Shop, but the online store has other merch available ahead of season kickoff this weekend. Amazon has also mentioned that it hopes to integrate gameplay with online shopping in real-time.

The context: Amazon’s new media rights partnership with the NWSL includes the exclusive broadcast of 27 matches this season, but the expanded partnership allows it to flex its tech and business operations — a trifecta of content, cloud, and retail — to showcase the NWSL’s product.

• This partnership differs from Amazon’s other prominent American partnerships with the NFL, WNBA, and MLB. While these deals utilized Amazon Prime media coverage and AWS tech, none leveraged Amazon’s cash cow: its e-commerce platform.

• As Amazon continues to build out its Fan Shop with the NBA and over 200 NCAA schools, the NWSL is a big get — every other major U.S. pro league shop is operated by Fanatics, a $31B sports apparel company ironically looking to become the “Amazon of sports.” Awkward...

Zooming out: The NWSL is already using tech to drive the game forward, especially through its recent partnership with Google, but this partnership further proves how the league can be commercialized in innovative, integrated ways.

• Tech-supported soccer is more accessible for soccer’s young and diverse fanbase and Amazon is already primed to appeal to Gen Z’s online shopping habits. Plus, all elements of this deal — streaming, apparel, and data — make women’s soccer easier to grasp than ever. Say less.