The NBA play-in tournament started off with an instant classic between the Miami Heat and Charlotte Hornets. Unfortunately, there were major issues with Prime Video's broadcast.
For starters, Prime Video's audio was ahead of its video for the majority of the Heat-Hornets game. There was also a major hiccup in the late stages of the game that had viewers irate.
As the Hornets had a five-point lead with 26 seconds left in overtime, Prime Video experienced some technical difficulties. Thankfully, the streaming platform figured things out just in time for Tyler Herro to put the Heat on his back and give them the lead.
The Hornets wouldn't be denied on their home floor though, as LaMelo Ball drove to the rim and secured the win with a go-ahead bucket. It was an epic scene in Charlotte, make no mistake about it.
© Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images.
NBA fans, however, couldn't get over how rough Prime Video's broadcast was throughout the night.
"Will be a big thing with the mainstream sports audience on here once they start showing up for the playoffs," Rob Perez said. "Would love an explanation how this still isn’t fixed six months into the problem originally surfacing."
"Amazon audio is slightly ahead of video, enough to be noticeable," Kevin O'Connor of Yahoo said. "I hope it can be corrected for the playoffs."
"Video fully went out on the prime stream for the Heat/hornets game in OT, audio regularly cutting out. Great job NBA," one fan commented. "Nice taste of the first I’ve watched of this terrible product."
"First and last year of Prime Video. NBA has an immediate out option, with no payout if they want I’d imagine after that," another fan declared.
What's the NBA's deal with Prime Video?
Despite how poorly Tuesday's broadcast went, Prime Video will continue to stream games for the NBA. After all, the two sides agreed to an 11-year media rights deal.
"The digital opportunities with Amazon align perfectly with the global interest in the NBA," league commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement. "And Prime Video's massive subscriber base will dramatically expand our ability to reach our fans in new and innovative ways."
Hopefully, Prime Video will learn from its mistakes and put together a much better product moving forward.
