The Duke Blue Devils are signed with Amazon to feature three neutral-site games on Prime next season as part of a multi-year deal with the company to broadcast three non-home contests through the 2028-29 seasons.
With the deal, Duke’s three matchups with UConn (Nov. 25 in Las Vegas), Michigan (Dec. 21 in New York City), and Gonzaga (Feb. 20 in Detroit).
It’s a one-of-a-kind deal in college basketball where a yearly contender pushes three of its regular-season games exclusively to a streaming service instead of a capable network like ESPN, CBS or FOX.
Almost every professional sports league has entertained the concept either as an exclusive broadcast partner for select games or as a simulcast partner for select out-of-market games. It was only a matter of negotiation before college sports entered the conversation, and basketball being first makes sense.
Unlike hoops, college football’s TV market share is a goliath and, as such, has a pivotal role in conference realignment. Basketball naturally features a longer nonconference schedule, so this sort of deal for a team like Duke – which generated $52.73 million in total revenue during the 2024-25 fiscal year – is a no-brainer for a company like Amazon when the offer hits the table.
These aren’t small fish, either. Michigan won its second-ever men’s basketball national title over UConn in Indianapolis earlier this month; Gonzaga, too, is a tourney contender and a program that’s another identifiable brand for Amazon.
Could the Big 12 – particularly Kansas or Houston – find itself inside a future Prime matchup? It’s hard to think Duke or Amazon would pass up the chance to list one of the Big 12’s members in its nonconference schedule with a deal like this in place for streaming.
