A broadcast production company you likely have never heard of is taking the blame for Amazon Prime Video’s mishap during a crucial overtime period in the NBA play-in tournament.
Game Creek Video, a live-broadcast production company that provided mobile production facilities to Prime Video during the play-in game between the Miami Heat and the Charlotte Hornets last week, has taken full responsibility for the incident that caused the streamer’s feed to go dark during the final minute of overtime. Pat Sullivan, the president of Game Creek Video, sent an email to Puck sports correspondent John Ourand absolving Prime Video of any fault.
“Our company, Game Creek Video, provides mobile production facilities to Amazon and the other major producers of regional and national sports events,” the email reportedly read. “One of our trucks caused the failure that affected the Charlotte vs. Miami game. A human error occurred when one of our engineers made the wrong decision at the wrong time. The failure had nothing to do with Amazon’s streaming protocols.”
The email goes on to explain that Game Creek Video has been intimately involved with many of Prime Video’s other sports productions, including Thursday Night Football, all of which have gone on without a hitch.
“We have produced thousands of hours of Amazon content, including every one of its Thursday Night Football games since their inception,” Sullivan wrote. “Amazon’s streaming of TNF, NBA events, and New York Yankee events that our company has handled has been flawless. [Prime Video head of sports] Jay Marine and his team have set up an extraordinary transmission and streaming concept. I just want you to be aware of the reason for that unacceptable failure on our part.”
Whether Prime Video plans to address its relationship with Game Creek Video is unclear. One would expect the streamer to take measures to ensure such an incident does not recur, though Game Creek’s body of work would seem to suggest this is a one-off and not something of great concern.
Either way, such a blunder is unacceptable during the final minute of overtime in an NBA playoff game. Even if the mistake is unlikely to happen again, it’d be wise for Prime Video to create a failsafe in case it does.