The battle for sports rights could intensify as streaming companies enter the market with increasing frequency. Sports industry expert Darren Rovell shares thoughts with Benzinga the streaming market and who could be taking market share away from ESPN.

Sports Streaming Rights: action network Sports reporter Darren Rovell shared with Benzinga the value of having sports rights to competitions that need to be watched live.

Rovell said it’s hard to say if the large amount of money is worth it, but the sports betting market has helped.

“When you bet live, you have to see it on a TV. Betting makes it more important that it’s on TV,” Rovell told Benzinga.

Strong demand from sports bettors and fans who follow the action, as well as high advertising rates for content that needs to be consumed live, have attracted new players to the sports media rights business.

Once dominated by ESPN, a unit of The Walt Disney Company DISand other media groups with sports channels, streaming companies are now shelling out millions for sports rights.

Among them is Amazon.com Inc AMZNwhich is now the home of Thursday Night Football games for the National Football League.

Rovell said he’s impressed with Amazon’s handling of NFL games.

“I actually thought the lag was more of a disaster,” Rovell told Benzinga, citing the lag between the stream and the game’s real-time feed. “I think they understood that they don’t have to lag behind.”

Rovell said he was impressed with how quick Amazon was.

“I paid attention to that. I thought the whole thing would be a disaster.”

Another company rumored to be circling sports rights is the streaming giant Netflix Inc NFLX. The streaming company is Running its first live content event with a Chris Rock Special, a move that could anticipate live sports content.

“I’ve always thought that Apple and Netflix and all these guys had more to do with sports than …