It took a pandemic to change human nature in little over a year. The traditional systems of watching movies, series, tv shows, sports etc. The excitement over a new movie being released & watching it in theatres at the opening has not been felt for months & the same could be said about watching sports.
Empty stadiums, arena’s, and ballparks have taken a lot of excitement out of these beautiful games. The audience surely has had a changing of habit during this pandemic, as we can see from viewing results of the Super Bowl which saw streaming increase by 67%.
It was rather uncommon for live streaming sports on OTT (Over-The-Top) platforms even a few years ago but the pandemic has surely seen to that at the present. According to Fastcompany.com “In the second quarter of 2020, more than 1.3 million homes dropped traditional cable or satellite TV service & over the last year more than 5 million households have opted out of pay TV bundles, presumably in favor of cheaper streaming services”.
It seems the thirst for more sports related contents created by the pandemic is the perfect opportunity for OTT Platforms to bank on. Earlier this year Peacock streaming service took the exclusive streaming rights for WWE at a price of 1 Billion Dollars for 5 years.
It is also not surprising that ESPN, which is owned by Walt Disney Co., a behemoth & a media giant, is now offering an OTT video streaming edition for ESPN audiences at $4.99 per month. Reason is, “ESPN has seen a decline from 100 million households in 2011 to 87 million households in 2017” according to beth-kindig.medium.com.
We love statistics, so why not look up more stats on this.
The Statistics On The Rise Of Sports Live Streaming On OTT Platforms
Fans of all sports will want to watch their favorite teams whenever and wherever they want. Here’s a few statistics from around the globe –
- According to a report by ReThink TV, streaming will allow sports media rights revenue to hit $85 billion by 2024. And that’s only one portion of the sports industry.
- 63% of UK consumers would pay over £10 per month to access sport via an OTT service, according to the UK At Home Video Trends 2020 report.
- Grabyo survey finds pay-TV subscriptions have fallen 9%
- Sign-ups to online streaming platforms up 20% for 50+ demographic
- A rising number of major sporting events available via streaming services is set to drive the revenue for global broadcast rights beyond US$85 billion by the end of 2024, according to a new Rethink TV report.
- Every major TV network has lost audience reach since 2014,except NBC Sports Network.
- 82% of pay TV subscribers stated they would cut their subscription if they did not need it to access live sports and the average sports fan is willing to pay $23 per month to access live sports. Beth-Kindig.Medium
- Amazon made a $130 Million Deal with the NFL in April 2018 to stream 11 season games to their Prime Video service.In 2020, that deal is worth more than the previously negotiated $130 million —but the actual amount hasn’t been disclosed. Vimeo
- Amazon agreed to stream Premier League matches in the U.K. with 10 matches shown to Amazon Prime members on two separate days for three seasons beginning next year. Amazon also secured the rights to broadcast the US Open Tennis Championship in a five-year deal starting with the 2018 US Open. Beth-Kindig.Medium
- Formula 1 launched its own OTT service to show races to more than 20 markets priced at $8-$12 per month. F1 TV will offer commercial-free live streams for each race along with multi-language commentary plus access to 20 driver on-board cameras. Beth-Kindig.Medium
- Disney launched ESPN+ which includes live games from MLB, NHL, MLS, golf, cricket, rugby and tennis for $4.99 per month. Notably, the application is not a full service option for cord cutters as it does not offer highly publicized games. Beth-Kindig.Medium
- CBS launched CBS Sports HQ, which offers 24-hour streaming coverage of sports news, highlights and analysis for smartphones and tablets. Beth-Kindig.Medium
- Turner Sports launched its own direct-to-consumer live sports service, Bleacher Report Live, which offers pay-per-game access to a variety of live sports, such as basketball, soccer and lacrosse. Beth-Kindig.Medium
But why are audiences flocking to streaming services for sports. Is it to only watch the games? As it seems, it isn’t.
OTT Platforms Provide Sports Fans The Whole Experience
Fans love the sport & their teams. The OTT platforms offer the fans more in this regard. More as in the whole fan experience. Contents before the match day, contents before the game, after the game, contents of the game the after can be disbursed through the streaming services & the audiences can watch them whenever they want. Here’s some of the examples of what OTT platforms are offering for sports –
- Player interviews
- Game Analysis
- Behind-the-scenes footage
- Pre-recorded extras
- Archived footage
- Player Q&A’s
- Fan Q&A’s
- Fan created content
- E-Sports
- Fantasy Leagues
- Celebrity Endorsements
- Team News
- Exclusive Deals
- Offers
- Fans Only Access
With these said Sports OTT providers are facing challenges from the rise as online pirates see this as an opportunity opening up.
The Challenge Of Piracy That Sports OTT Providers Face
For any streaming platform piracy is always an achilles heel. It’s always there & will be even after the pandemic. If people don’t care about the quality of the content & just want to watch it for free then piracy will occur. High quality contents, competitive subscription rates are a must to challenge this wave of content piracy but to hinder it, more expert opinion on digital content piracy is also an easy way of fighting it.
Onsist wants to protect brands from all over the world against online theft and piracy. We want people not to fear about losing their content to pirates, counterfeiters and other digital threats. Here’s a 4 minute read on How Onsist Agents Can Help You With Your Content Protection Strategy.