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Amazon’s Prime Video dives into college sports in partnership with Duke men’s basketball

DURHAM, N.C. (AP) — Streaming provider Prime Video is diving into college sports by partnering with one of college basketball’s biggest brands: Duke.

Amazon and Duke announced Thursday they had reached a multiyear agreement to broadcast three of the Blue Devils’ neutral-site nonconference matchups per season. This marks the first college partnership for Prime Video, which has aired NFL and NBA games among other sports.

This fall’s broadcasts include a Nov. 25 matchup between Duke and UConn in Las Vegas, a rematch of the Huskies’ comeback from 19 down to win on a last-second shot in the NCAA Elite Eight. Next is a Dec. 21 matchup against reigning NCAA champion Michigan in New York’s Madison Square Garden. Finally, Duke will face Gonzaga on Feb. 20 in Detroit.

“Duke basketball games transcend the schedule,” said Charlie Neiman, Prime Video’s head of sports partnerships, “and the creation of this all-new offering gives fans more of what we all want, marquee matchups featuring the most successful programs in the nation.”

In its release, Duke said the Blue Devils have also agreed to participate in additional events owned and operated by ESPN across the 2027-28 and 2028-29 seasons “in exchange for the flexibility” to schedule the Prime Video events. Those come as part of ESPN’s partnership with Duke’s Atlantic Coast Conference home.

In a statement, Duke athletic director Nina King said the deal “expands the global reach” for the program that has won five NCAA championships.

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Auriemma says he felt ‘dumb’ for the way exchange with Staley played out following Final Four game

STORRS, Conn. (AP) — Six weeks after his team lost to South Carolina in the Final Four, UConn coach Geno Auriemma said Monday that he felt “dumb” for how his heated postgame exchange with Gamecocks coach Dawn Staley played out in front of a national audience. “When I walked into the locker room afterward with the coaches, you are just shaking your head, thinking five more seconds, you couldn’t keep it in for five more seconds,” Auriemma said in his first news conference since then. “You just feel dumb for the way that it played out,” he added. “We are all human and we all do dumb (stuff).” Auriemma sparked a firestorm of criticism after he went over to Staley in the final seconds of South Carolina’s 62-48 victory at the Final Four in Phoenix and appeared to chastise her.
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