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It is amazing how fast the internet video streaming platforms have entered the market and how quickly they managed to force out the cable TV industry. Every year more and more viewers, including sports fans, are switching to streaming services. At the moment, over 60% of all the sports fans pay for the streaming subscription to watch their favourite games and championships.
But what’s the phenomena about? What makes these platforms so popular? Today we’ll try to give you a quick but comprehensive overview of the modern streaming market, as well as its tendencies and forecasts. If you are a sports fan, reading is required because you’ll definitely learn something useful.
The Popularity Of Streaming Services
According to the Grabyo’s OTT Trends Report, more than half of the sports fans prefer watching their favorite events either via premium social media or the over-the-top (OTT) services. This also concerns gamblers: Casino HEX users say they prefer Netflix and Hulu to cable TV.
Sport has the biggest share of the most-watched content and it has even overtaken films, documentaries, and TV series. 41% of the broadcasts stream sports. Just imagine: Netflix, the streaming giant, already has 61% of the global market and the percentage continues to grow.
This trend will definitely continue because TV networks, online publishers, and even sports federations start launching their own direct-to-consumer services. Experts are sure that broadcasters are no longer dominating the market and the streaming services will continue to expand.
And many streaming platforms are using this uncertain time for their own benefits. For example, the NFL Game Pass, which usually costs $99 per season and the NBA League Pass, $28,99 a month, gives viewers free access to their libraries filled with hundreds of old games. They are owned by the league, so it doesn’t cost broadcasters a cent and they can additionally attract millions of sports fans.
Only for the first three hours of free access, the average number of new Game Pass sign-ups increased 500 times. Such a huge interest motivated Twitch and YouTube to stream old MLB, NHL, and MLS games. Nowadays, you don’t have to count days till weekends to watch your favorite games: subscribe to one of the streaming platforms or rewatch the games for free!
Twitter decided not to lag behind and offers access to the best Super Bowl seasons and NBA championships. People watch them with friends and other sports fans over Zoom and similar video conference platforms. These streaming services gave sports fans an unprecedented experience: access to the best games simply by pressing a few buttons.
One of the things that sports fans love so much about such streaming services like NFL Game Pass and NBA League Pass is that people can decide what, when, and where to watch: you can re-watch your favorite basketball game or to wait for a friend to see the Superbowl Final even in several days.
On top of it, the above streaming services have a documentary library and lots of ‘behind the scenes’ content. It’s clear as day that these platforms were designed to bring sports fans a unique experience without leaving their homes!
Forecast for the future
Even though the growth of streaming services is evident, TV giants are doing everything they can not let the platforms replace traditional broadcasting. For example, Disney and AT&T paid over $24 billion for NBA contracts for the next nine years.
CBS, Fox, and NBC pay around $3 billion together for the Sunday NFL Games. ESPN spends almost $2 billion for Monday Night Football games. According to the Ad Age, last year live sports occupied almost 90% of the most-watched programs, so it’s obvious that broadcasters will do everything in their power not to let streaming services occupy the market.
However, we are witnessing a huge shift on the market and such platforms like Game Pass and League Pass have a unique opportunity to enter the digital broadcasting world. The only question is how many people that have access to the free library right now, will stay with the platform and pay for the subscription. Follow the news and our articles to remain updated, and let’s follow the market shifts together!
