Sports is transforming faster than ever. HUB Entertainment Research’s latest study, “What’s the Score? The Evolution of Sports Fans and Sports Media – Wave 4,” reveals how streaming, social media, and shifting fan behavior reshape the sports experience. HUB’s findings show that while enthusiasm for sports remains strong, the ways fans discover, watch, and engage are changing rapidly.

HUB’s data confirms that streaming now anchors this transformation. Fans increasingly identify digital platforms rather than traditional broadcasters as their primary source for live games, highlights, and commentary. This marks a profound shift in where attention and media investment converge.

Streaming takes the lead

Sports continue to move full speed into streaming, expanding opportunities for rights holders and audiences. Viewers rely on ESPN+, Prime Video, and Netflix for live games and highlights. According to HUB, fans overwhelmingly believe ESPN+ provides the best sports coverage, while Prime Video and Netflix rate comparably to cable and broadcast networks.

This report reveals a new hierarchy in sports media. The value of live rights now depends on how well a service integrates sports into a broader digital experience. According to consumers, streaming offers flexibility and personalization, traits that align with younger, mobile-first audiences.

Streaming also strengthens brand perception. Two-thirds of avid sports fans and 40% of casual sports fans say they view a streaming service more favorably if it includes live sports. For companies like Disney, Amazon, and Netflix, sports is a differentiator and a retention tool, creating real-time engagement in an on-demand environment.

At the same time, more choices bring new challenges. Fans juggle multiple subscriptions to follow their favorite teams, and nearly half say finding the sports they want to watch is getting more confusing. Yet engagement remains strong. The passion for live sports continues to drive audiences to adapt, even as the media model evolves.

Social media becomes the stadium

As streaming changes where fans watch, social media redefines how they connect. HUB finds that 42% of teens aged 13–17 and 24% of adults aged 18–34 consume most of their sports content through social media, compared with just 12% of fans aged 55 and older.

This generational divide reveals a new form of engagement. For younger fans, social media isn’t just a companion to live sports; it is the experience. Platforms like YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, and X deliver nonstop clips, commentary, and behind-the-scenes access. Fans scroll, post, and share in real time, creating a participatory environment that often replaces traditional broadcasts.

For leagues, rights holders, and brands, this shift demands a new strategy. Discovery now happens through short-form video rather than scheduled programming. Advertisers view social platforms as critical spaces to reach fans who may not watch full games but still connect deeply with teams and athletes.

HUB’s data makes it clear that this shift is permanent. Younger fans’ reliance on social media represents a lasting reordering of the sports media value chain, one where fans don’t just consume content—they shape it.

Confusion and competition

While streaming brings more choices, it also adds more complexity. HUB finds that fans increasingly struggle to navigate multiple platforms and shifting rights. Nearly half say it’s harder to find the sports they want to watch, and more than one in four call it a hassle to use multiple services during a season.

This fragmentation mirrors the early days of entertainment streaming. To counter this, former competitors are collaborating. HUB highlights the rise of “new bundles,” partnerships that unify sports rights across services to simplify access and improve scale.

New tools also aim to reduce friction. Some services help fans track games across platforms or buy short-term passes for key events. These efforts show the industry’s awareness of fan fatigue and its push to restore the convenience that once defined pay TV. Even with these challenges, enthusiasm keeps steady. Fans continue to adapt, proving that while fragmentation frustrates, it isn’t diminishing the passion for live sports.

The big picture

HUB’s research confirms that sports fandom is as strong as ever, but how fans watch is evolving fast. Nearly half of viewers are frustrated by fragmented access across platforms, even as overall engagement continues to climb. For networks, leagues, and streaming platforms, this shifting landscape is both a challenge and an opening. Those streamlining the viewing experience while staying agile across digital channels are driving the next wave of growth. By aligning affordability, accessibility, and authenticity, media players will shape the future of sports storytelling and keep fans connected to the game wherever and however they watch.

The post Experience is the game changer for sports streaming appeared first on Digital Content Next.

Sports, social video, and AI-driven targeting are rewriting the rules of engagement. For executives, the opportunity is clear: act now to secure share, or risk losing ground to platforms and competitors who move faster.

Sports and streaming: a new business lever

Live sports remain the most valuable premium video inventory, commanding CPMs north of $14, according to MediaRadar 1H 2025 estimates. Yet the structure of rights is rapidly shifting. In the 2025–26 NFL season, MediaRadar projects:

• 46% of games will be simulcast across linear and streaming
• 46% will be linear-only.
• 8% of games (20 total) will stream exclusively.

This fragmentation isn’t chaos. It’s leverage. Publishers are using it to their advantage by bundling across platforms and segmenting audiences more precisely, tapping into the 11% year-over-year growth in digital channels and the projected $220 billion in video ad spend by 2028, according to MediaRadar analysis.  With Amazon, YouTube, and Netflix expanding coverage, publishers positioned across both linear and streaming can bundle inventory, maximize yield, and deliver addressable audiences at scale.

Case in Point: In 2024, live sports streaming alone neared $6 billion in ad spend according to MediaRadar analysis. Platforms like Amazon and Peacock benefited most. However, publishers who can sell across channels stand to capture premium demand.

Social and user-generated video: the budget shift

Scripted content once accounted for 70% of U.S. viewing; today, it’s closer to 30%. User-generated content (UGC) now represents nearly half of all viewing according to MediaRadar 1H 2025 estimates. While CPMs average just $4, the scale is undeniable – and advertisers and media executives alike are chasing it.

Automotive, finance, and CPG brands are redirecting budgets from scripted into YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok. For publishers, the strategic question is no longer whether to invest in these ecosystems, but how – via influencer collaborations, branded content, and social partnerships that extend reach and diversify revenue.

AI: from wild card to margin engine

AI is often positioned as experimental, but for publishers it’s becoming a margin mandate. According to MediaRadar’s analysis, AI is reshaping three critical areas:

• Search & discovery: AI helps audiences cut through fragmentation to find premium content — and helps publishers surface it more efficiently, compressing the cost of audience acquisition while expanding the yield from discovery.
• Information management: By automating insights and replacing armies of analysts with real-time optimization, AI dramatically compresses operational costs and expands yield through faster, smarter decisioning.
• Content generation: In creative and bidding workflows, AI streamlines production and media planning, compressing content development costs and expanding yield by scaling personalization and campaign throughput.

For media executives, the implication is simple: AI compresses cost and expands yield. Integrating AI into targeting and personalization is no longer optional; it’s the difference between competing on price versus competing on value.

What publishers need to do now

The next 24 months will determine market leaders. Here’s how to protect and grow share:

• Align with sports: Premium live events still command the highest CPMs. NFL streaming rights on Amazon, YouTube, and Netflix open fresh monetization channels.
• Leverage social and UGC: Nearly half of viewing happens here. Automotive and finance brands are already investing heavily in YouTube and Instagram. Publishers need to meet them where spend is flowing.
• Invest in AI-driven targeting: Precision targeting turns fragmented inventory into measurable, ROI-driven campaigns. Dynamic ad personalization increases yield.
• Double down on data: First-party insights are pricing power. Even in a soft ad market, MediaRadar analysis found digital channels grew 11% YoY in H1 2025.

Looking ahead

The path forward is clear: streaming, sports, and AI will define the next era of video advertising. Together, they represent the pillars of a new video economy—one where reach, relevance, and rights management will determine who thrives and who fades.  

As we said in our recent webinar from the State of the Industry Series: “In times of change, data is your greatest advantage.” Executives who act now—before platforms consolidate power again—will set the pace for the industry.

About the Author

Matt Krepsik, CEO of MediaRadar, is an experienced media executive with a demonstrated history of working across the media and information technology industries. Skilled in big data, artificial intelligence, technology, marketing, and market research, he is a seasoned business development professional with global leadership experience.

The post The streaming shift in media strategy appeared first on Digital Content Next.

Who Is watching and how

According to new research from Parks Associates, 43% of U.S. internet households consider themselves Sports Viewers. Of these, 40% watch sports exclusively through streaming platforms, including subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) services, direct-to-consumer (D2C) league apps, and virtual multichannel video programming distributors (vMVPDs) such as YouTube TV. Another 30% combine streaming with traditional TV or antenna-based access.

Sports Viewers spend more on streaming than non-sports fans. Those subscribing to D2C sports apps spend an average of $111 per month across services. The average for Sports Viewers overall is $88, compared to $64 for those who avoid sports content entirely.

Challenges with fragmentation and discovery

Sports programming airs across platforms as leagues strike deals with multiple platforms. Viewers often need multiple subscriptions to watch games across different conferences, leagues, or even within a single sport’s season. Thirty percent of Sports Viewers report being unable to access games because they do not subscribe to the required service.

This frustration compounds as content discovery remains inconsistent. It’s often unclear where a game is airing, on a streaming app, a linear channel, or both. Digital antennas are making a comeback and they offer free access to select games. Approximately 20% of sports viewers use digital antennas today.

Current sports rights landscape, who owns what?

Compounding the complexity is the fact that live rights are spread across multiple platforms and formats:

• NFL: Broadcasts are distributed across CBS, FOX (including Tubi for highlights), NBC, Peacock (for Sunday Night Football and select exclusive games), and ESPN. Amazon Prime Video holds exclusive rights to Thursday Night Football. YouTube TV now carries the NFL Sunday Ticket package.
• NBA: Beginning with the 2025 season, the NBA has a new 11-year deal with Disney (ABC and ESPN), Comcast, and NBCUniversal (NBC and Peacock), as well as Amazon Prime Video.
• NHL: ESPN and ABC, along with TNT (a Warner Bros. Discovery property), currently hold NHL rights, which include both streaming and traditional broadcast components.
• College Football: Major networks, including ESPN, FOX, CBS, and NBC, share rights across various conferences. Peacock streams select Big Ten and Notre Dame games.
• March Madness (NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament): CBS and Warner Bros. Discovery’s Turner networks (TNT, TBS, and truTV) share rights with streaming through March Madness Live and affiliated apps.

Technical hurdles: latency, buffering, and scale

Delivering live sports via the internet introduces technical problems. Streaming services must deal with latency (lag behind real-time action), buffering (playback interruptions), and scalability (serving millions of concurrent users without crashing).

During Super Bowl LIX in 2025, Tubi had the lowest delay among streamers at 26 seconds, while Fubo lagged by 78 seconds. These variances reflect the trade-offs each platform makes between video quality, compression, and speed.

Advanced video codecs such as H.265 (HEVC) and the newer H.266 (VVC) are gaining adoption to reduce file sizes and improve video delivery. However, many devices still lack full compatibility with these codes, and widespread adoption remains limited.

Interactivity and viewer behavior

Interactive features, such as multi-game viewing, real-time statistics, and in-app betting, are emerging as key differentiators. Fifty-two percent of Sports Viewers use at least one interactive feature. Among viewers under 35, that number jumps to 80%.

Still, the use of interactivity is uneven. Only 19% of viewers place sports bets during a game, though interest rises among fans of MMA, boxing, and rugby. The majority of viewers, particularly older ones, remain focused on watching the live game itself.

Streaming is not a simple replacement for traditional sports television. It brings new opportunities for monetization and fan engagement. However, it also new layers of fragmentation, access challenges, and technical hurdles. While streaming continues to grow, the industry faces pressure to enhance delivery, simplify access, and cater to a broader and more diverse fan base.

The post Streaming live sports: rights, revenue, and roadblocks appeared first on Digital Content Next.

Three years on, the Lionesses are set to defend their crown in Switzerland next month, and the appetite for women’s sport has never been greater. Whether you’re a broadcast, digital or print outlet, female athletes, the stories around them and the competitions they participate in provide the opportunity to attract new viewers. Revenue can take time to build, but the appetite is there. And, by failing to invest and get involved in the coverage now, there is the real risk of being left out of a crucial growth area that serves as a cost-effective way to get into showing live sports.

Expansion drive in women’s sports

On Tuesday, the Women’s Super League, the top female domestic league in England, announced that it is expanding from 12 to 14 teams for the 2026/2027 season. In the U.S., a peak of 2.8 million tuned in to watch Caitlin Clark return from injury on Saturday as she helped the Indiana Fever beat the New York Liberty. American tennis star Coco Gauff’s win over Roland Garros was watched by 1.4 million, a 94% increase over  the previous year.

Francois Goddard, an analyst at Enders Analysis, noted that women’s football received a bump from the 2022 tournament. It looks like the same thing could happen again at the end of this summer too. With this in mind, the moment for companies to strike is now, according to The Athletic’s women’s football writer Megan Feringa. “If anyone is looking at the summer and hasn’t already assembled at least a one-person team, but ideally, more than that, I think they’re going to get to mid-July and think, oh shoot, we are so late on this,” she told Digital Content Next.

There are lots of reasons why women’s sports provide such an exciting opportunity for media companies. To start, while there is some crossover, women’s sports tend to attract a different type of audience from men’s sports, which lends them a family-friendly reputation. “I think we do see that in general women’s sports competitions, fans over index for having children in their households,” says Danni Moore, Senior Analyst at Ampere’s Analysis. This means streamers and TV could bring in the wider family audiences to their service by investing in women’s sports. (And this also offers a fresh and appealing audience for advertisers.)

Rights heat up

Another sign that moving into women’s athletics now makes sense is that the cost of female sports rights is already starting to go up. “The WSL, I think the women’s Bundesliga and the Spanish Liga F, they’ve all gone up,” according to Moore. However, they are still low-cost relative to their male equivalents, which provides a great entry point for streamers looking to get into the live sports game. “Now it’s a good time to get in because they are cheaper,” she says, “but if the prices do go up in the future, [media companies would] be missing that opportunity.”

This all helps explain why Disney+ has become the home of Women’s Champions League soccer in Europe. It has taken the rights previously owned by Dazn for an unknown prize in a five-year deal. ESPN, Disney’s multiplatform sports brand, will produce all live matches for Disney+ with commentary offered in multiple languages, alongside pre- and post-game programming. The broadcasts are set to launch in October, with no additional subscription cost for viewers to access the games.

It’s a good move for Disney, according to Goddard, because the company “needs more content in Europe, more local content and more regular content.”

The pan-European tournament ticks all those boxes. It also allows a platform that has not shown live sport in a mass way before to dip its toe into the water without splashing out huge amounts of cash.

The excitement around women’s sports goes beyond soccer and basketball though. “What if we look at women’s hockey,” says Feringa. “What if we look at women’s softball, cricket, rugby? You’ve got Ilona Maher, who has sort of exploded the rugby scene,” she adds. “It seems inconceivable that people don’t want to jump into this space. It just feels like an obvious win”

Adland’s interest increases

Advertisers are increasingly interested in women’s sport too. In the age of subscriptions and streaming, live sports are still a popular placement for advertising. “This makes it even more attractive as an option for local, regular content,” says Goddard. As with the price of the rights, the cost of advertising against women’s sport is understood to be less than in men’s sports, providing marketers and brands with a way to make their money go further in the sports space.

Rihanna’s brand Fenty Beauty has signed a sponsorship deal with the New York Liberty, the first time it has moved into marketing withing sports and Feringa notes:

“The [National Women’s Soccer League] NWSL and the WNBA have done such a fantastic job in terms of sort of aligning themselves with brands, and vice versa, brands aligning themselves with different sports and different teams.”

With the WNBA continuing to dominate the headlines, the women’s Euro’s set to bring some of the best in the world together. And there’s so much more to come in this booming space. Thus, media companies of all kinds need to think about how they are going to show up for female athletics to capture engaged audiences and advertisers seeking family-friendly fare.

Already, we’re seeing a growing number of media brands introduce targeted coverage for women’s sports – including Associated Press, USA Today, Roku and CNBC. Audiences and advertisers are showing up in growing numbers. But there are still plenty of opportunities out there. For media companies still sitting on the sidelines, now’s the time to get into the women’s sports game or risk being left behind.

The post Women’s sports are hot. Media: don’t miss your shot appeared first on Digital Content Next.

How is AI accelerating this transformation? It’s helping underrepresented sports and athlete-creators identify and capture new fans, super fans, and monetization opportunities. With smarter data analysis and faster content distribution, sports once considered “niche” have a chance to grow their media audiences and revenues in many ways.

How AI Is expanding the reach of sports

AI is widely used in sports media but it’s not just for the majors. AI presents opportunities for targeted streamers and independent creators. Here’s how leaders are using it to grow:

1. Identify and engage new fanbases

AI is helping sports organizations analyze viewership patterns, social media engagement, and fan demographics to uncover potential new audiences. By leveraging machine learning, teams and leagues can:

• Identify super fans: Find those most engaged and willing to spend on tickets, merchandise, and streaming subscriptions.
• Uncover new fan segments: AI can pinpoint audiences with similar behaviors and interests, even if they haven’t engaged with the sport yet.
• Optimize monetization strategies: AI-driven insights help organizations determine the best ways to engage and convert fans through advertising, merchandise, and licensing opportunities.

2. Speed up content distribution

The way fans – particularly Gen Z fans – consume sports content has changed. Short-form videos, highlights, and real-time updates dominate engagement, and AI is making it easier to deliver this content faster than ever. AI-powered tools now handle:

• Video ingestion and indexing: AI quickly processes and categorizes game footage for highlights.
• Automated captioning and headlines: AI helps create more engaging, searchable content.
• Smart clip generation: AI identifies the best in-game moments and instantly produces highlight reels.

This reduces production time and costs, allowing sports organizations to share media with fans faster and at scale.

3. Break language barriers and expanding globally

AI-powered translation tools are making sports media more accessible and global. Now, leagues and teams can automatically translate commentary, subtitles, and captions into multiple languages, opening doors to international markets and audiences.

• More inclusive media: AI-driven translations provide accessibility for fans who speak different languages or have hearing impairments.
• Stronger international engagement: With real-time translations, sports can reach new audiences without the need for costly localization efforts.

Athlete-creators: the new hybrid skill set

From NIL-driven revenue opportunities to the dominance of the Paul brothers, athlete-creators are increasingly leveraging AI. Are we looking at a future of sports in which the highest-performing athletes are not the best-known athlete-creators and vice versa? Yes, it may be challenging for some athletes without the resources or a team of assistants to fully realize their earning potential. However, AI may help level the playing field for athlete-creators. Here are some ways athlete-creators are using AI:​

• Content creation and editing: AI tools can simplify design and enable quick creation of engaging content without professional design expertise.
• Social media engagement: AI analysis of social media trends and audience preferences can be used for targeted creation strategies.
• Streamlining distribution: Automation of delivery can make it easier for athletes to focus on training and performance while staying engaged with fans and optimizing revenue opportunities. ​

Ascendant sports: the next stage of AI-driven growth potential 

For an underrepresented sport looking for media expansion potential, new AI tools can help with assessing and answering some key questions:

• Does it have a strong but underserved fanbase? If finding free, high-quality broadcasts is a challenge, it’s now much easier to explore serving a fanbase via free streaming options, from FAST to YouTube to other live social short-form distribution outlets. 
• Does it need better production and distribution? AI-enhanced production – from graphics to real-time statistical analysis – can help sports that have previously not been considered TV-friendly, making them more exciting to watch and easier to follow on digital platforms.
• Are there marketers looking to align with its fanbase? Using AI-enabled analysis of data, it’s easier to identify cost-effective and targeted opportunities to connect with sports fans. 

With the right application of AI and streaming strategies, ascendant sports can dramatically expand their audience and become stronger players in the sports content ecosystem.

The future: AI will define the next era of sports growth

The sports industry is at an inflection point. The traditional “big vs. small” sports hierarchy is being disrupted by technology, streaming, and AI-driven content strategies. Many sports, regardless of their historical followings, now have the opportunity to thrive and expand their reach.

The post How AI is changing the game for “niche” sports streaming appeared first on Digital Content Next.

Gen Z is less interested in live in-person or televised sports events than any other adult demographic, according to recent research by Morning Consult. The survey responses from people ages 13-25 reveal that, in addition to attending fewer live games and watching fewer of them on broadcast or cable, only 2 in 5 Gen Zs have a favorite team that they follow. So, how can sports content providers change tactics to appeal to them? 

The warning signs

Here’s a look at some warning signs revealed by the study: 

• 38% of Gen Z responders agreed with the statement “I don’t have a favorite sports team” compared to 25% of adults in general.  
• Only 25% of those Gen Zs who do have a favorite sports team watch “all or most” of that team’s games, compared with 37% of adults in general. 
• 47% of Gen Z have never watched a live professional sports event in person (compared to 41% of all adults), and 60% have never watched a college game in person (compared with 53% of all adults). 
• Only 28% of Gen Zs watch sports events live on broadcast or cable compared with 47% of adults overall. 
• Of Gen Z’s who haven’t watched a sports event on TV in the last couple of years, 57% said it’s because they are just not interested. 20% said the games are too long. 

Gen Z fans relate differently to sports media

So, what does Gen Z like when it comes to sports entertainment? Streaming video wins this generation’s attention. Significantly, 32% of Gen Zs said they watch live sports via a licensed streaming service, compared to only 25% of all adults.

Gen Z sports fans can also be reached via their favorite social media platforms. Four of the top five media platforms where Gen Z gets their sports news are social channels, the survey found. YouTube, Instagram and TikTok were the top platforms Gen Z cited as places they look for sports news.

• 31% of Gen Zs looked for sport news on YouTube compared with only 21% of all adults.
• 26% of Zs used Instagram for this purpose compared to only 12% of all adults.
• 24% used TikTok for sports news compared to only 8% of adults overall.

In contrast, Facebook, ESPN, and ESPN SportsCenter were much less popular among Gen Zs than they were among older adults looking for sports news.

Expert advice

Experts recommend tapping into youth advisers or advisory panels to report Gen Z’s preferences, peeves, and trends to those in sports management and marketing. 

When it comes to attending live events in person, lower ticket prices, flawless Wi-Fi, and community spaces are cited as factors that can help attract younger adults to arenas. Student-focused marketing may include discounted bundles of tickets and swag, theme nights, and hyping the fan experience in the stadium, such as the celebratory entrance of players to the field and tifos occurring in the stands.

Personalities and influencers

In an interview with Mark J. Burns, Snapchat creator Jack Settleman recommends hiring a special personality to connect with fans on social platforms, and utilizing SnapChat and YouTube thoroughly. Since Gen Zs rely heavily on social media, stadiums need to have excellent Wi-Fi to attract and keep teens and young adults who expect to be able to multitask and share experiences in real time. Settleman emphasizes the importance of excellent Wi-Fi during stadium events: “(Make) sure every NFL stadium has perfect Wi-Fi — that is so crucial. My first question when I go to a stadium is, ‘What is your Wi-Fi login?’ I’m always a bit nervous. I can’t post content. I can’t text my friends. I can’t follow along on Twitter.” 

Recruiting the help of content creators and influencers on trending social platforms is also advisable. While following athletes and teams on social media may not directly translate into cash for the sports industry, Morning Consult found that 45% of Gen Zs report having purchased clothing sponsored by an influencer or celebrity. Other kinds of sports merchandise, event tickets, and subscriptions may benefit from this type of marketing as well. 

Young sports fans expect integrated, immersive, and flexible experiences that respect their time, budgets, and preferences. They seek live connections over social platforms whether they are at home or in stadiums. There are still plenty of Gen Z sports fans; they just have different ways of relating to sports content than their predecessors.

The post Sports media is losing Gen Z. How can they win them back? appeared first on Digital Content Next.

Sports broadcast rights remain competitive, expensive, and increasingly fragmented. But what has changed is how audiences choose to interact with sports content. The rise of social media and streaming platforms has changed the game, as their inherent interactivity enhance the appeal of live sport. 

Combine this with the investment other media companies have placed in their subscription- and advertising-based streaming platforms, and the growing cost of sports content, and you have a space ripe for disruption. And while the details of exactly how disruption is taking place varies by platform, sport and country, it ultimately has the same cause as the tumult across the media world: tech turning passive audiences into active participants. 

Social sport 

At Twitter’s recent Newfronts appeal to advertisers, the company announced the rolling over of the platform’s partnership with the WNBA. This marks the sixth year of the partnership which grants Twitter the broadcast license for live games. It is no coincidence this is designed to further engage a predominantly women-led audience at a time when bringing in new audiences is key. Following its 2022 regular season, the WNBA announced that the league “set records for engagement with 186 million video views (+36% vs 2021)” across its social media platforms. 

Twitter’s rationale for that partnership is its ability to offer real-time reaction to every basket and foul on. The real-time interplay between tech platform and sports content is part and parcel of how many media companies are selling their sports streaming to advertisers. 

Theo Luke, senior director of global content partnerships at Twitter, tells me, “A fundamental to the live sport experience is talking about it. Increasingly broadcasters are actively including social media rights in their deal renewals with leagues because they see the value of highlighting clips alongside the live streaming experience to capture larger audiences and other revenue streams.”  

“For example, through our recent Twitter Amplify partnerships with ITV and Formula 1, we offer a number of real-time highlights and the opportunity to engage with the moments that matter directly on people’s timelines,” Luke continues. “From an advertiser’s perspective, this not only allows you to align with premium video content, but also position yourself at the heart of the action and fanbases. When sport happens on Twitter, you don’t have a passive viewership, but an engaged, attentive and connected audience.” 

Live community interaction has also been Twitch’s core appeal from even before it was Twitch. Since its acquisition by Amazon, the livestreaming platform has been inching ever closer to a destination for premier sports content. That’s been accelerated by Amazon’s investment in the broadcast rights for sports, and the deeper integration of its advertising tech with the Twitch platform.  

In 2020, only two years after Amazon acquired some of the rights for Premier League matches, it was already streaming those high-value matches for free on Twitch, as well as NBA content. At the time, Twitch’s content acquisition lead, Eric Brunner, said, “They’re very open to exploring new ways to engage their community, like co-streaming USA Basketball on Twitch.”  

Effectively, then, the new streaming platforms are hoping the pre-existing live interaction that formed their core appeal will supercharge interaction around sports coverage. That creates huge opportunities for potential advertising partners, both in terms of activating those audiences in the moment and by providing analytics around the interaction. 

Sports clubs reap the benefits of streaming 

The transition to sports streaming on new platforms is also being driven by the sports leagues and clubs themselves. Andreas Jung, chief marketing officer for FC Bayern Munich, told me the club’s engagement windows have widened beyond match day: “This is the expectation that the fans have and they want to participate in everything. This means that they consume content everywhere and anytime… 24/7.” 

Fans can pay a yearly fee to be club members, and Jung says members, “have the expectation to get more information, to get to be closer with a club and therefore we have to bring them more information, we have to bring them more services and so on and so on.” As a result, Bayern is betting on its multi-year partnership with Adobe to boost its streaming content for users – and to deliver greater advertising revenue. 

Opportunities for smaller leagues and networks 

And while platforms and the bigger legacy leagues take advantage of the new advertising opportunities afforded by live streaming, smaller clubs and platforms are effectively launching as alternatives. Unbound by the limited amount of airtime on linear channels, new wrestling leagues are vaulting over the lower bar to entry to replicate some of the new opportunities – albeit at a smaller scale. 

Guildford Town FC is a regional soccer team in the UK, far removed from the glittering heights of the Premier League. Speaking about the club’s partnership with dedicated sports streaming platform Joymo, its manager Paul Barnes echoed the comments from larger clubs: “I believe this is where the world is going. We’ve talked about the benefits from a playing perspective and staying connected with our fans, but this is also a way for us to make revenues that can help the ongoing development of the club.” 

In the U.S., too, smaller leagues are using streaming to grow audiences and revenue. Overtime, a sports media company aimed at Millennials, recently raised over $80 million in a Class C funding round. Much of the confidence around the investment is predicated on Overtime’s strong social media and streaming offering, which includes 65 million followers across all of its 80 social media channels 

The strategy was pioneered by esports leagues, which grew from grassroots to huge events through judicious use of live streaming platforms like Twitch. What is especially interesting for wider media companies, though, is that even traditional broadcasters, such as BBC and BT Sport, are now adding esports coverage to their linear offerings.  

New audiences, new approaches 

“Twitter works alongside broadcasters and rights holders to help make live sporting events even bigger,” explains Luke. “Our platform connects people directly to what’s happening around live events and that conversation provides greater value to our partners.”  

He continues, “Most recently, we saw this with the UEFA Women’s EURO 2022, which saw the number of tweets [triple] ahead of the final and nearly 900 million impressions in the UK throughout the tournament. Watching live sport in 2022 isn’t just about consumption, it’s also about engagement.” 

James Hartnett, account director for sports-specialist marketing agency The Playbook, told me, “As the topics and ways they are discussed has also evolved, so too have the platforms sports fans turn to. The primary source of 39% of 18-24-year-old ‘social natives’ for sports news – including match highlights, unique moments and opinion commentary – is TikTok, Instagram and YouTube. The stats are much the same for 25-34-year-old, though they tend to prefer Facebook over TikTok.  

Streaming has indelibly altered sports viewing. This creates new opportunities across the ecosystem, especially when it comes to engaging new, often younger, audiences – a challenge most publishers can relate to. 

The post Live sports may be the ticket to growing streaming audiences  appeared first on Digital Content Next.

Last week The Athletic raised its subscription price. The increase – the first since the sports news and analysis title launched – followed two failed attempts to tie the brand up with larger publications. The first endeavor saw The Athletic pitch a partnership with Axios, which ultimately came to nothing. The second saw it enter talks with the New York Times, which is currently in the midst of its own drive to add millions more subscribers.

On paper the latter seemed like a great potential partnership. The Athletic boasted over one million subscribers as of September last year, and 1.2m as of May this year. That would amount to an instant addition of over one tenth of the users needed to take the NYT past its target of 10m subscribers by 2025.

It also would have cemented the NYT as one of the definitive sources of sports news online: in addition to its own coverage, it would gain that of The Athletic’s ~400 editorial staff across text and audio. In the face of hungry acquisition of sports content from the likes of Sinclair, it would have put the NYT ahead of the pack to scoop up sports-focused subscribers.

By the numbers

So, what went wrong? The answer lies in the often-omitted information from the story of The Athletic’s early success. Despite (or in part due to) its initial splurge on the best-known sports journalists in countries across the globe, the site is still not profitable.  

Even with reported revenues of around $80m in subscriptions, it is not covering the cost of its formidable staff. In an interview with Variety its founder Alex Mather stated: “We have got 450 reporters, writers, editors, producers on three continents producing as much volume as any national newspaper in the world per week”. He then noted that the company was still priced the same for consumers as when it launched with just three full-time employees.

It’s tempting to suggest that The Athletic raising its prices is an acknowledgement that its play for scale to appeal to larger publications has stalled. It is likely that some of those subscribers, brought in through discounted or free subscriptions, will choose to opt out of paying, so it is concentrating on consolidating revenue from its most valuable and engaged users.

Sporting chances

However, it is too soon to say that The Athletic as an experiment has failed. Rather, it could be the catalyst that sparks important changes elsewhere. Even in the announcement that accompanied the price hike, there was a note of optimism. As we come out of the pandemic and live sports return in earnest there is an opportunity for sports news and analysis platforms, both at legacy organizations and at the digital upstarts like The Athletic.

Jasper Wang is VP of revenue and operations at sports blog Defector. While it pales in comparison to The Athletic in scale, its smaller newsroom allows it to be profitable at a comparable membership cost to The Athletic. It is effectively right-sized by design. He told me:

“If we take the business model first, we are subscription-supported, because we knew there was a rabid group of readers. Is that millions? No. But is it tens of thousands, maybe even hundreds of thousands? Yes. And so the quickest way to get some cash flow was to ask people to pay subscriptions directly. We had 10,000, paid subscriptions within 24 hours of announcing the project. We’re at about 39,000 total paid subscribers right now.”

The rights stuff

So even if The Athletic’s play for scale will lead to it shedding subscribers and some staff again, there is a demonstrable hunger for that content. That’s led to a spending spree in both broadcast rights and editorial output.

In the U.S., for example, Sinclair is still high on its acquisitions horse, attempting to control the distribution and streaming rights to regional sport. Its latest $250m effort to acquire NBCUniversal’s seven regional sports networks (RSNs) bulks up its Bally Sport network. Sport, even at the regional level, attracts huge audiences.

In fact, at ESPN there is growing recognition that, even with smaller audiences, live sports offer a bevy of opportunities to connect advertisers with audiences. “Primetime is when most people are watching, and that’s what sports is. Sports is prime,” says Rita Ferro, president of Disney advertising sales. Perhaps that’s why ESPN Plus is also raising its prices, with the annual cost jumping from $60 to $70.

And it’s on that primacy that some news outlets are betting their fortunes.

Investment opportunity

Newspapers, which cannot afford or have no interest in becoming carriers for sports broadcasts, are approaching the opportunity from another angle. In the U.K,, for example, Reach plc is investing heavily in creating new roles to tap into engagement from fans through punditry and analysis. Much like The Athletic, it is splurging on bringing new journalists into the fold to boost its coverage.

Jon Birchall, Reach’s audience and content director for sport, said, “We want to bring more views, a wider range of expertise and more round the clock coverage on both our national and regional brands.

“Our ambition is to not only continue to serve our readers, viewers and listeners but also attract new fans and communities.

Connecting with communities

The phrase “new fans and communities” is telling. While national leagues still attract the lion’s share of coverage and therefore subscription revenue, The Athletic has demonstrated that audiences are just as invested in their local teams. Reach’s play, then, is to take back some ownership of the local sports coverage it lost while stripping out costs.

Its timing is significant, too. Reach is currently in the middle of a drive to explode its digital revenue. Lloyd Embley, its editor-in-chief, said: “Over the past 18 months, we’ve significantly ramped up the number of new sites we’ve launched as part of our Live network, many in areas where we don’t have established print titles.

“Thanks to our transformation of editorial operations last year and underpinned by our customer value strategy which ensures we build deeper relationships with our readers, we have created a sustainable model for digital-only local journalism.”

In the U.K., sports subscriptions are also key to the fortunes of titles like The Telegraph. While the cost is less than that of an overall subscription, it is a recognition that sports coverage has its own appeal. In discussing its subscription plans, the Telegraph ranks its sports coverage alongside its politics as among the biggest drivers of subscription take-up; a member of the Telegraph team flagged its upcoming suite of Olympics coverage to me as being one of its primary focuses for the year.

Mind the gender gap

Perhaps most importantly of all there is still a gap in women’s sport, both in terms of coverage and punditry. Research has found that on average women’s sport receives about 4% of the media coverage of men’s. This clearly suggests there is still significant headroom for growth in revenue from subscribers looking to learn more about women’s sports teams and stars.

That’s backed up by research from Deloitte, which demonstrates broadcasters are slowly cottoning on the rising demand for women’s sport. In 2019, CBS Sports Network signed a deal to televise 40 regular-season Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) basketball games. Similar deals have taken place across the U.S. and U.K. for other sports.

Crucially, there is an opportunity for news orgs here too. Women’s sport advocacy group The Fan Project found that audiences are hungry for greater access to athletes and stars. At both national and regional level, investment in teams that can promote those stars will pay dividends for news titles. It’s a far cry from the days when tennis was considered the only women’s sport worthy of coverage in the U.K.

With the rise of online gambling and its integration with news titles, local sports coverage might well be the next great driver of revenue for regional titles on both sides of the Atlantic. Huge great experiments like The Athletic might not work on their own terms. However, they are already spurring a tranche of investment in what could be a key source of subscription sign-ups elsewhere.

The post MVP: Why sports coverage could be the next great subscription driver appeared first on Digital Content Next.

However, just as the athletes are coming back stronger from a season off, NBC says this extra year has left them fully prepared for the challenge ahead. It recently announced plans to present 7,000 hours of Olympic coverage, making the 17-day affair the “biggest media event ever.”

“We have spent the better part of the last 14 months learning how to do things differently,” Pete Bevacqua, Chairman, NBC Sports Group, said in a recent press event on the network’s coverage plans. “Those skills … will absolutely apply themselves as we tackle what should be, I think, one of the most interesting and special Olympic Games ever.”

Olympics everywhere

Part of this new, improved package involved working up with other platforms to ensure that people can watch what they want, when they want. In addition to Comcast’s X1 pay-TV platform, partners like Roku and Apple TV will feature Olympic dashboards, which will guide viewers to the Games. NBCU has been working directly with a range of platforms to develop content that fits with the needs of their audience, given the specific delivery channel.

The network has also created strong partnerships with Google Search and Google OneBox. Many people will decide what to watch by going to Google, and NBCU is prominent in the Google OneBox with viewing information and highlights. And, significantly, NBCU will do a major programming push on Peacock, to help build audiences for the streamer. The company also recently announced that Peacock will launch on Amazon Fire TV and Fire tablets.

Peacock will feature new daily live shows and dedicated Olympics channels, as part of its Tokyo Olympics destination, which goes live on July 15. The streaming service currently has around 42 million subscribers. Matt Strauss, Comcast Chairman, Direct-to-Consumer and International, is “very optimistic” that the Olympic coverage will bring a new, larger audience. However, Strauss says the company is not prioritizing premium subscriptions as part of the Olympic push. Instead, the focus on ensuring that consumers check out the free, ad-supported, basic tier of Peacock.

The rights stuff

In addition to the 7,000 hours of content, across a plethora of platforms, NBCU will also flex the fact that it negotiated exclusive rights to the Olympics until 2032, which cuts out rival networks. The deal, which covers all media platforms, including free television, subscription TV, Internet and mobile rights, is valued at $7.65 billion.

What this means is, NBCU has rights across every platform – even those that have not yet been developed yet.

“We have the most complete set of rights of any sport that we have on any of our networks and that any network really has,” says Mark Lazarus, NBCU’s chairman of television and streaming. “Essentially, every technology known today or to be invented between now and 2032. That gives us the ability to try new things and to experiment. That’s what we’ll be doing across the platforms.”

“Our job is to pick the best platform for each piece of content, while trying to take the incredible reach that the Olympics have, the incredible reach that the NBC broadcast network has, and put it on the biggest stage.”

Twitch hit

One new partnership they are particularly excited about is Twitch. The collaboration will feature programming tailored to the Twitch community. This includes highlight studio shows, game-ified pre-Olympic activations, Olympic athlete interviews, and Olympic-themed gaming competitions.

“The way that people consume traditional sporting events is changing,” says Michael Aragon, Chief Content Officer at Twitch. “They no longer want to simply spectate. They want to be as close to the action and athletes as possible. We’ve seen this first-hand with the growth of our sports community on Twitch, as viewers tune in not only to watch their favorite athletes but to also take part in pre- and post-game interviews and virtually connect with other fans from around the world.”

Friends and family

Covid not only saw the Games postponed, 12 months, it has also put a stop to any international travel to Tokyo. This means friends and families of the athletes won’t be able to support in person. Plus, the audiences at big events will be capped at 10,000 people, or 50% capacity, whichever is smaller. This means there is even more pressure on the network to provide a ‘real’ experience for those that can’t be there.

This new challenge led to the creation of a new “Friends and Family” production unit, that will capture the reactions of loved ones back home.

According to Molly Solomon, Executive Producer, NBC Olympics and GOLF, the work and thought put into the Tokyo Games, during the pandemic, means they are going to be the “most meaningful Olympics of our lifetime.”

“After everything the world has gone through, as we begin to emerge from this pandemic, the world coming together is an incredibly impactful experience,” she says.

“We really have put together the most ambitious coverage plan ever. We’ve also adapted to the changing consumption habits. Our goal was to be everything for everyone. It’s our most coverage we’ve ever had.”

The post How NBCUniversal turned the Olympic postponement into multiplatform gold appeared first on Digital Content Next.

With many sports fans cutting the cord to pay-tv, viewers are shifting to alternative platforms. In fact, half of broadband subscribers (51%) cut the cord to a pay-tv subscription more than 5 years ago and another 25% cut the cord within the past two years.

Interestingly, while TV still dominates sports viewing, more than half of sports fans (57%) reported that they watch sports streamed online. Top ranking platforms for viewing appear to stack up according to screen size and accessibility with computers at 37%, followed by over-the-top (OTT) to a TV at 26% and tablet and smartphone both at 25%.

The study and findings appear consistent with television and digital viewing patterns of sports related content. Live-event viewing is a must for sports fans and now there are options to watch it live on the best screen available.

The post Sports fans are twice as likely to watch sports on TV than on the Internet appeared first on Digital Content Next.