Amazon’s Alexa adds support for Bundesliga audio commentary

Amazon has announced an unexpected new audio feature for virtual assistant Alexa – audio commentary from Germany’s top football division, the Bundesliga.

The tech giant and maker of the Echo smart speaker has announced the new feature will launch on Friday – in line with the start of the German football season – and will be available to Amazon Music Unlimited subscribers.

Amazon says the feature marks the first time the tech giant has broadcast its own live sports content.

The audio feature will involve a 90-minute ad-free show on Saturdays with a commentary team covering every concurrent Bundesliga game on the day.

There will also be streams of single matches on Friday, Saturday and Sundays, and the content will be available anywhere in the world for Amazon Prime members and Amazon Music Unlimited subscribers in the UK.

“Football on Amazon merges a high-quality editorial programme, knowledgeable commentators and a true passion for this beautiful sport with the excellent usability Amazon Music users are accustomed to.”

The news comes on the same day Twitter announced plans to live-stream the BT Sport Score results programme on the social media site every Saturday during the football season in the UK.

“It’s fantastic that football fans in the United Kingdom have the ability to access an unprecedented degree of audio streaming of German football without the language barrier.

“The extensive programming means more and easier access to the Bundesliga for UK fans. We are delighted to have found a great partner in Amazon, a partner who really brings audio streaming to a new level and enables us to deliver the Bundesliga to as many international fans as possible.”