How Amazon’s live sports partnerships team integrates brands into live sports coverage in relevant ways

From action-packed matchups to electrifying fan enthusiasm, live sports programming remains one of the few events that audiences tune in to watch live. This creates a perfect opportunity for brands to connect with engaged viewers and deepen relationships by amplifying their brand messaging through customized sponsorships and solutions.

The ability to enhance and elevate within sports programming is exactly what the Live Sports Partnership team within Amazon Ads offers. Led by Amy McDevitt, head of sports partnerships at Amazon, the team is comprised of individuals who have built their careers in sports, media, and marketing experience under her belt, and have mastered the art of working to find creative, unique, and impactful ways for brands to become part of programming.

“I love sports because that’s what viewers are so passionate about,” says McDevitt. “You always want to watch it live, and that makes working in this world really exciting.”

As the exclusive home of Thursday Night Football (TNF) for the past two seasons, Prime Video has delivered Emmy Award–winning production and game-changing innovations to tens of millions of viewers, week after week. Building on the success of TNF, Prime Video continues to grow its portfolio of compelling sports offerings, highlighted by the recent additions of NBA and NASCAR, as well as increased investments in women’s sports, including the WNBA and the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL). This is in addition to a selection of Amazon Original documentaries—including Bye Bye Barry, Giannis: The Marvelous Journey, and Federer: Twelve Final Days—featuring some of the biggest names in sports.

Under McDevitt’s leadership, Amazon is creating a strategic playbook for brands to deepen connections with sports fans through a wide range of opportunities: sponsorship of one of TNF’s shoulder or ancillary programs, bespoke commercial creative developed in partnership with brands to run in a live event, and in-show or in-game branded integration that makes a brand contextually relevant to the environment. The end product is an entertainment experience that feels authentic to live sports viewers and stays true to a brand’s messaging.

We sat down with McDevitt to learn about how her team leverages live sports programming when working with brands and where she believes the industry is heading. Dive into her interview to discover the latest developments in the sports and advertising universe at Amazon.

My team starts with the customer and what key objective they present to us. Then we think big–what organic angle can we leverage to make this brand relevant within the sport schedule, a specific matchup, is there a player connection or is it merely a witty use of sports vernacular? Some advertisers can get even closer to specific content franchises by leveraging IP to create more of a direct association with sports audiences. Our goal isn’t just to re-create a brand’s commercial. Instead, we look to enhance it by weaving branded moments into our coverage. From logo placements to producing custom commercials, we build and execute each partnership with the advertiser in mind–there’s no such thing as a one-size-fits-all approach.

As experts in the sports space, we consult with brands from start to finish, and even help manage athlete and/or talent participation, if that’s what’s most important to the advertiser we’re working with. When developing these opportunities, we’re thinking about the audience, the brand, the customer experience, and how it can drive impact with the right distribution channel, too. We’re always striving to provide brands with the best and brightest ideas to help them reach their goals and customers.

When my team is developing creative solutions, we’re working collaboratively with each advertiser to ensure we’re executing an activation that will help deliver on their desired brand objectives. In 2023, we partnered with an automotive brand who had a specific vehicle launch to promote. We collaborated to produce a custom, contextually relevant piece of creative featuring TNF talent and a former NFL player who retired from the team that was featured in that week’s TNF game. That retired player served as the connection point to make the auto brand stand out that week in TNF. To as contextually relevant as possible, we shot and edited the commercial within a week of its airing, finishing the spot the night before the game.

And we have data to show this type of content makes an impact. We surveyed TNF audiences and found that 78% of viewers said they had a more favorable opinion of brands because of their TNF custom integration.¹ There are so many different ways to craft a partnership, whether a brand sells on Amazon or not, or it’s their first time working with Amazon, we’re here to help brands create, innovative, meet their goals, and connect with customers in new and exciting ways.

The short answer is: New content. New audiences. New opportunities. Every sport launched on Prime Video is truly unique and different. Our goal is not to take the model from one and just pluck it on to all of them. Each sport has their own audiences with their own sensibilities and passions. And each league has nuances around brands and sponsorship. When developing custom brand experiences within any sport, we’re always thinking about the story and how a brand might be able to naturally fit.

For example, our new partnership with NASCAR begins with Practice and Qualifying Memorial Day weekend in 2025 with five NASCAR Cup Series races. I’m thrilled to see how we can innovate with brands who may have been involved with NASCAR for years and are looking to test and learn with us. Additionally, we will have a lot of exciting new opportunities when we launch the NBA next season as well. We also have a slate of sports originals, including the recently-launched documentary on Roger Federer, and another on Dale Earnhardt that we’re rolling out in 2025, among others.

Sports is drama—it’s storytelling, it’s passion, it’s energy, it’s excitement, it’s unexpected. It’s one of the few types of content that audiences tune in live to watch. Live sports creates a lot of really powerful watercooler moments that audiences want to witness, and it’s always a win when your brand is a part of that conversation. At Amazon, we’re able to pair those must-see moments with powerful storytelling and fandom using innovative ad solutions, our first-party insights, and sponsorship opportunities – all of which gives brands access to scale, engagement, and one-of-a-kind solutions.

I’m excited to see how technology and measurement move live sports advertising forward. There have already been so many innovations, like the incredible work from the Prime Video team to enhance NFL experiences. Last season, we introduced with Defensive Alerts, an innovative AI-enhanced feature thattracks the movements of defensive players before the snap and identifies “players of interest” in real-time that are probable to rush the quarterback.

This technology doesn’t just change how audiences watch the game, but also how they understand and experience it.
I think those types of innovations will create new opportunities for brands. Additionally, measurement will evolve across live sports programming, not just measurement of media and assets, but also for sponsorships. At Amazon, we are honored to work with brands to help them tell their stories through custom and creative experiences. We’re incredibly passionate about understanding a brand’s business. It’s something that I love the most about my job.