Bundesliga radio comes exclusively to Amazon Music worldwide, but to find it you need "Alexa"

Last year the Bundesliga entered into a new agreement that will make Amazon Radio the exclusive worldwide English radio provider for the Bundesliga. Fans were told that the matches would be available on Amazon Music Unlimited and Prime Music. Not only did it grant them the talkSPORT Bundesliga package of up to 5 games each matchday, but it also gave them the rights to broadcast the German Supercup and the DfB Pokal.

After aquiring the rights Amazon decided to expand the package.  They hired talkSPORT to produce a radio broadcast for every Bundesliga match and to produce a show where they'd rotate from match-to-maych each Saturday. What no one was told until today though is there is a catch. 

After learning that Amazon would carry the Bundesliga I began to earnestly search Prime Music and Amazon Music Unlimited. There was no Bundesliga channel listed in the US. I was able to find the channel listed on Amazon Music in the UK, Germany, and Netherlands, but I wasn't able to find it in the US. 

After failing to find it with the search feature I contacted some of the more well known Bundesliga radio commentators. None of them knew exactly how you could find the channel in the US. They knew Amazon was carrying it, but they didn't know how to find it. 

Finally I contacted Amazon Customer Service. What I learned will be very upsetting to those who have come to love the talkSPORT Bundesliga broadcasts. The following quote contains the answer I received. 

"Bundesliga Live with Amazon Music offers live, English language streaming of Bundesliga 1 matches and conferences on the Echo devices, Fire TV, and Fire TV Stick in the United States. Live streaming of Bundesliga 1 matches requires Alexa voice controls."

Frankly this is quite upsetting to me. I have been a Prime member now going on 5 years. Only once have I ever had a problem with getting an item I ordered, and they were quick to resolve the problem. In this case though there is no way they can solve the problem. The only way you can listen to the matches is if you have an Alexa device. 

The Alexa voice control devices work well when you're in an at-home setting. They don't necessarily work when you're at work though. Where I work at I'm allowed to listen to music and sports while working on my cell phone. My cell phone is not an Alexa supported device though. 

So what can you do to listen to Bundesliga radio for the 2017-18 season if you live in the states and don't have an Alexa voice controlled Amazon device? There are a few methods possible. 

1) If you are a SiriusXM subscriber, then you are in luck. For the second consecutive season SiriusXM FC and Fox SiriusXM will carry select Bundesliga matches. The matches on SiriusXM will be a simulcast of the Fox Sports tv call, so they don't violate the Amazon Music Bundesliga radio package. 

2) Fox Sports Go will carry all Bundesliga tv matches. In the last two months Fox Sports Go has also added Fox Soccer Plus, so you can catch the actual tv simulcast for matches on Fox, FS1, FS2, and FSP on Fox Sports Go. 

3) Fox Soccer Match Pass will carry the world feed of every match. Furthermore Fox Soccer Match Pass will continue to archive every match. 

Now methods 2 and 3 aren't the best if you are at work and can't watch tv, but at least there will be an archive available. In the long run Amazon is going to disappoint a lot of US Bundesliga fans with this silly Alexa controlled requirement.

UPDATE: Since writing this Amazon has removed the search service from all but the Germany site. In order to find the Bundesliga worldwide you need "Alexa."