Jay Marine, who once served as a technical advisor to Jeff Bezos, is now a prominent figure at Amazon, holding the positions of Vice President of Prime Video and Global Head of Sports. He played a crucial role in launching Amazon's sports business abroad, securing rights for major events like the US Open tennis and Premier League soccer, and now overseeing high-profile deals such as the NFL's "Thursday Night Football" through an $11 billion, 11-year partnership.

Marine's approach to Amazon's sports strategy is focused on both securing popular sports programming with significant audiences, like the NFL, and exploring emerging areas such as women's sports. Amazon's sports content portfolio includes WNBA games, Premier Boxing Champions fights, and NASCAR rights, among others. Their recent investment in Diamond Sports for $115 million not only saved the regional sports broadcaster from bankruptcy but also granted Amazon streaming rights to its games, potentially paving the way for future bids on national NBA rights. Despite some strategic decisions like passing on the Pac-12 and not renewing the Premier League contract, Marine's team is actively exploring opportunities to expand Amazon's sports broadcasting footprint globally.

Amazon's foray into sports broadcasting is part of a larger strategy to enhance its Prime membership program, with the belief that sports content can play a significant role in retaining subscribers. Marine emphasizes the importance of Prime in everything Amazon does, aiming to provide added value to the membership. As Amazon competes with other streaming services for sports rights, Marine's leadership and Amazon's financial resources have positioned the company as a serious contender in the live sports broadcasting arena.