Amazon's Exclusive Coverage of the US Open Has Been So Bad That They've Shut Off The Review System Because People Are Being Too Mean
Amazon has been flooded with so many complaints about its coverage of the US Open it has stopped disgruntled tennis fans from posting more bad reviews.
Amazon’s $40m five-year deal to broadcast the US Open to UK tennis fans – its first exclusive broadcast of a sports event – was meant to showcase the Silicon Valley giant’s streaming prowess and prove it can match traditional broadcasters and become a credible home for live sport.
The company, which has successfully streamed NFL matches in the US, has pulled out all the stops, including setting up its own studio at Flushing Meadows and drafting in former players such as Jim Courier, Greg Rusedski, Annabel Croft and Mark Petchey.
However, the internet giant has been inundated with complaints about a host of problems including the picture and sound quality of its streaming service and an inability to record matches. Almost 90% of the 650 reviews posted by subscribers to its £5.99 Prime Video service, home to its US Open coverage, gave Amazon just 1 or 2 stars.
“There is no replay option, no ability to record [and] the picture quality is very poor,” said one unhappy tennis fan. “It’s like going back in time 25 years.”
This isn’t necessarily a big story in the United States because 1) ESPN carries the rights to the US Open exclusively 2) not many of you care as much about tennis as people like me do, but over in the U.K. this is a big deal. Sky Sports ended their coverage of the US Open after 25 years, and Amazon swooped in with a $40 million deal to broadcast the event by themselves. So far, it’s been pretty much a disaster. Whether it’s been complaints about picture quality, sound quality, or their also being no replay option people are not happy. Of the 650 reviews available, 90% are bad. Imagine Netflix bought the rights to the Masters and just fucking botched it to the point it’s unwatchable. That’s basically what’s going on.
Now it’s the US Open so it’s not the biggest of deals here, but tennis is a big thing in the UK with European starts like Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Rafa Nadal, Andy Murray and so on. Looking at the grand scheme of things this is Amazon’s first exclusive sporting event that they’ve covered and it’s been a disaster. They’ve done NFL here and there, but obviously didn’t have the exclusive rights to all the games. They are in talks to get Premier League games exclusively next year and if you fuck up European’s soccer games they’re going to burn you to the ground. You may survive tennis, but soccer will destroy you. I mean they’ve shut off the comment section and review system because people are being too mean. That’s a bad sign. When we write a bad blog we don’t turn off the comment section. Grow some balls Amazon and take it like a man.