When Amazon offered sports fans a chance to watch American football through its new AI-powered “Prime Vision” last year, many wondered if it wasn’t too much. Now, a new poll reveals that the viewers actually love it.
Prime Video’s “Prime Vision,” the AI-enhanced interface available as an alternate feed of its NFL “Thursday Night Football” telecasts, adds on-screen graphic overlays of player stats and insights happening in real time, and viewers are responding with a thumbs up.
Introduced in 2023, the new feature raised doubts over the possibility of filling our screens with even more overlays and information, and how this might not be attractive to the average fan.
After all, it’s the same broadcast everyone else sees – but with “Prime Vision,” viewers also get additional circles, colors, orbs, and other digital gimmicks powered by machine learning and Radio Frequency Identification tags embedded on each player.
For instance, one clip depicts how a red orb was placed on a defensive player who rushed the quarterback.
Chuck Clark gets to Brissett for the sack! 💪
undefined NFL on Prime Video (@NFLonPrime) September 20, 2024
The Defensive Alert saw that coming!#TNFonPrime pic.twitter.com/qBv9Cx7XDa
It’s truly impressive, especially if you’re a hardcore fan who understands the intricacies of the game. At the same time, though, many veteran fans like to track various on-field plays themselves, and every circle adds to a distracting on-screen clutter, some say.
Plus, there’s some pride as a fan to know your player’s jersey numbers and designated positions. “Prime Vision” instead sticks a floating name tag over key players, at times blocking the view of the actual gameplay.
So is this indeed the future of football? Looks like it – a new survey from Hub Entertainment Research indicates that a majority of sports fans who viewed the “Prime Vision” feed responded positively to the technology.
Among those who used the features, 70% responded positively. 26% said they “loved” the enhancements and felt they made the game more immersive. Only 6% indicated a negative reaction.
Amazon sees Prime Vision as an incubator for innovation. Prime Video, the company’s streaming platform, can already be called a feature that allows viewers to explore layers of information, such as actor bios, photos, filmographies, and character backstories.
The study, available on Hub’s website, also found that those who liked or loved Prime Vision were significantly more likely to favor watching sports on streaming platforms. 82% of this particular group said they were excited about more sports becoming available via streaming.
Still, so far this year, only 36% of fans signed up for a new streaming service just to watch a sport — down from 38% in 2024. It's a small dip, but a clear signal that the market isn’t expanding – it’s plateauing and consolidating, according to Hub.
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