Amazon's debut as a domestic broadcast partner to the Premier League extended the reach of the top flight to nearly three-quarters of UK fans, according to Ampere Analysis, reports, www.sportspromedia.com/.

The US technology giant, which paid a reported UK£90 million (US$118.5 million) for 20 live Premier League matches a year through the 2021/22 season, aired ten of its allocated games for this campaign via its Prime Video over-the-top (OTT) subscription service on 3rd, 4th and 5th December.

Whilst Amazon has not made its viewing figures for the midweek fixtures public, it claims that 'millions' watched its coverage on Tuesday and Wednesday nights.

Richard Broughton, Ampere Analysis director, says that Amazon's distribution now means that 72 per cent of UK Premier League fans have access to live matches at home, and increases reach by a third compared to the 54 per cent who have subscriptions with the league's other broadcast partners BT Sport and Sky Sports.

"While there is concern in the wider industry that fragmentation of [Premier League] rights across three buyers means that fans are having to pay more to see all of the key games each year, Amazon's coverage has already extended live reach to a further third of fans previously unable to watch any live matches at home," Broughton said.

According to Broughton, 28 per cent of UK-based Premier League fans rely on viewing live matches at sports bars and clubs, or watching the Match of the Day highlights broadcast by public-service broadcaster the BBC.