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BodyArmor, Amazon Prime, & the Future of Sports

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Welcome to the latest episode of the Full-Court Finance podcast from Zacks Investment Research where Associate Stock Strategist Ben Rains quickly breaks down everything investors need to know about Gatorade rival BodyArmor after Coca-Cola (KO - Free Report) bought a significant stake in the sports drink firm. The episode then shifts to the future of live streaming sports, where it looks like Amazon (AMZN - Free Report) is ready to come out on top.

Last week, Coke announced that it made a significant investment in the upstart sports drink firm BodyArmor. The deal will see the relatively new BodyArmor, which aims to stand out as a healthier, more natural option compared to Gatorade, gain access to Coke’s massive distribution system. BodyArmor also boasts athletes from NBA MVP James Harden to golfer Dustin Johnson. Plus, the company’s biggest asset might be Kobe Bryant as the firm aims to expand not only in North America but also in China.

Coke’s move comes amid shifting consumer habits that have harmed the soda giant in recent years. The investment might also see BodyArmor move on from Keurig Dr. Pepper Inc. KDP, which began to invest in the sports drink firm a few years back when it was still Dr. Pepper Snapple Group.

BodyArmor still has a long way to go if it wants to catch up to Gatorade, but Coke seems poised to position the brand ahead of Powerade. The move also helps to highlight just how much the beverage industry has changed recently. In fact, Coke rival and Gatorade-owner PepsiCo (PEP - Free Report) just announced on Monday an agreement to buy SodaStream International Ltd. in its latest effort to diversify beyond sodas and salty snacks.

The episode then shifts to all the latest news from the streaming sports world, which includes a new partnership between Adidas (ADDYY - Free Report) and Twitter for high school football. Rains closes out the episode by diving deeper into the future of live streaming sports between Facebook , Twitter, YouTube (GOOGL - Free Report) , and others.

Amid all the competition, it looks like Amazon, which has pushed into the NFL, the NBA, soccer, and esports, is poised to become a streaming sports giant no matter what Fox (FOXA - Free Report) , ESPN (DIS - Free Report) , CBS , and NBC (CMCSA - Free Report) try to do about it.

As a reminder, if you feel that we missed something, or if you have any topic suggestions, shoot us an email at podcast@zacks.com. Make sure to check out all of our other audio content at zacks.com/podcasts, and remember to subscribe and leave us a rating on Apple Podcasts.

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