Apple reportedly poaches Amazon’s DeLorenzo as it looks to sports

Apple has reportedly hired Amazon’s James DeLorenzo as it looks to make a push towards sports for Apple TV.

According to a report from Recode Media, the iPhone maker, which has aspirations to make the Apple TV app something akin to the ‘Google of the TV’, wants to put greater emphasis on live sports content, particularly within its own premium Apple TV+ channel. This interest in sports first emerged in late 2019, with reports that Apple had held talks with the NCAA over potentially carrying college sports.

As such, the hiring of DeLorenzo seems like a perfect fit. In addition to his role as senior vice president at Audible, the exec serves as Amazon Video’s head of sport. He joined the company in 2016, having previously headed up digital video for Sports Illustrated and aiding in the launch of Time Inc’s 120 Sports video joint venture.

Amazon has become an increasingly prominent player in the sports world, with its high profile deals including the acquisition of domestic rights to the English Premier League and an agreement with the YES Network to stream 21 New York Yankees games on Prime Video.

While Amazon Prime Video has evolved into a massive platform that offers VOD content and a variety of live event coverage, the fledgling Apple TV+ is still establishing itself as a streamer with a focus on high-quality originals with a much smaller library. It is unclear how sports would factor into the service which has been dubbed ‘the new HBO’, but Apple evidently is considering the idea and hiring DeLorenzo should help to further these efforts.