{"id":7829979,"date":"2025-09-09T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-09-09T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thewrap.com\/?p=7829979"},"modified":"2025-09-25T06:52:43","modified_gmt":"2025-09-25T13:52:43","slug":"sports-streaming-rights-consumer-impact-analysis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thewrap.com\/sports-streaming-rights-consumer-impact-analysis\/","title":{"rendered":"Streaming Sports Boom Means More Confusion, More Frustration and More Bills"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n

This is the third in a series from TheWrap exploring how sports is transforming the entertainment business.<\/em> Read our second story here<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The struggle to figure out how to watch every NFL game this season is real. Let\u2019s say you\u2019re a Seattle Seahawks fan. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many of the games will air on local affiliates, in which case you would need either a digital antenna or a subscription to cable TV or a live-streaming service like YouTube TV ($83). To get around a traditional bundle, you could catch CBS games through Paramount+ ($13 a month), NBC games through Peacock ($11 a month), Fox games through the new Fox One ($20 a month) streaming service and ABC and ESPN games though ESPN+ ($12 a month). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But that\u2019s not all. You would also need an Amazon Prime subscription ($15 a month) to view two exclusive Thursday night games on Prime Video.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Things are even worse if you happen to be a Seahawks fan who\u2019s not in the Seattle area \u2014 you would need NFL Sunday Ticket ($480 per season), which is an exclusive add-on to YouTube TV that lets viewers watch games that are not carried on local broadcasts in their area. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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And that\u2019s just one sport. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This convoluted jigsaw puzzle (which required two reporters and a confused editor who had to rely on ChatGPT to help piece together) is illustrative of how fragmented and expensive sports has become. Every week, there seems to be another story about a massive sports rights deal, with streaming media rights up 153%<\/a> from where they were a decade ago. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But as media giants pay more for sports, it\u2019s unclear how long consumers will be willing to pay for these live events. Subscribers have consistently reported that they\u2019re close to reaching their spending limits for TV. A Hub Research study of 1,600 respondents found the average person pays $83 a month on TV subscriptions, a number that\u2019s fairly consistent with what respondents said they paid in 2022, 2023 and 2024. However, the maximum amount consumers said they were willing to pay averaged $86 a month, with those who subscribe to three or more services saying they’ve already surpassed their limits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those numbers aren\u2019t even in the ballpark of what a major sports fan would need to spend. If you subscribed to the nine streaming services that have exclusive rights deals with major leagues like the NFL and NBA as well as smaller leagues like the WWE and Formula 1, having access to all of these sports would cost you $168.17 a month, or $2,018.04 a year. Each month, you would be paying more than $20 over the most expensive Spectrum cable plan, which includes ESPN, Paramount+, Peacock and Fox One. Even if you purchased that package, you still wouldn\u2019t have access to every sport. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This number doesn\u2019t account for bundling deals that could lower the overall cost. It also assumes you don\u2019t have a cable package or a subscription to a live TV streamer like Hulu + Live TV ($81.99 a month), YouTube TV ($82.99 a month) or Fubo TV (anywhere from $54.99 a month to $84.99 a month).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For its part, the NFL has defended its platform diversification. “For us, it’s about giving those choices and those opportunities, and once we do that, the fan can select the best way to engage in the best platforms for them,” Paul Ballew, chief data and analytics officer for the NFL, said last Tuesday during a press conference with reporters. Ballew highlighted that most games are free-to-air over broadcast television for the competing teams’ home markets. “We want to make sure the fans get access to our games and get access on the platforms and the devices that they choose. So as we’ve made changes over the years to find fans where they are, that’s remained the cornerstone.”<\/p>\n\n\n

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Part of why sports is so attractive is because of the passionate fanbase willing to follow any given team. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt’s an irrational attachment with an irrational commitment,\u201d Sean Cunningham, president and CEO of the TV and media data company Video Advertising Bureau, told TheWrap about sports fans. \u201cThe reason that’s incredibly attractive is because, ultimately, brands are trying to build loyalty beyond reason.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But loyalty has its limits, and based on what consumers are saying, even the most hardcore fans will have to make sacrifices. What fans pick and choose will be critical, as the media and tech giants have bet billions of dollars that these teams will help them retain subscribers, and not every wager will pay off. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere has to be losers and winners in this space,\u201d Bob Lynch, founder and CEO of the sports sponsorship data company SponsorUnited, told TheWrap. \u201cI don’t think that it\u2019s going to be positive for everybody in the long run.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Seattle
Jalen Milroe of the Seattle Seahawks (Patrick McDermott\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Sports as an acquisition driver<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The surest bet in sports remains the NFL, where fans still seem to be paying these increasing costs. Last year, NFL games increased user acquisition by 28% on average and time spent on platforms by 57% for the three biggest sports streaming platforms, according to a report from Samsung Ads, a brand that accounts for more than a third of all TVs and Smart TVs used in the U.S.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That same study found that by March, those same apps saw a 33% drop in audience as well as a 59% decrease in time spent, indicating that many people only subscribed to watch the NFL. Across all sports fans, Samsung Ads found that 75% of sports fans cancel or pause subscriptions after the season ends. The turnover rate is another example of how the priorities around sports streaming rights have shifted. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cStreaming audiences are highly rental audiences,\u201d Justin Fromm, head of insights and thought leadership at Samsung Ads, told TheWrap. \u201cBut what we’re finding is that sports streaming audiences are even more rental. They exacerbate that trend.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"NBA\"
Jalen Williams of the Oklahoma City Thunder shoots over Michael Porter Jr. and Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets. (Joshua Gateley\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Though Samsung Ads found that most fans were likely to have subscribed to a streaming service to watch live sports, there was a discrepancy between casual fans (about 57% of sports fans) and diehard fans (43%). Not only were diehard fans more likely to have five or more streaming services compared to casual fans\u2019 three services on average, casual fans were also far more likely to cancel their cable or pay TV subscriptions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe platform diversification is challenging if you’re a fan of a certain team. Not only is it hard to know which streaming app has the sport you’re interested in but then which streaming app has your team?\u201d Fromm said. \u201cThat\u2019s on top of blackouts for local games. It’s incredibly frustrating.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before companies used to pay for these rights so that they could monetize ads during games. Now, those sports rights are used to pull in audiences or keep them from migrating to another platform, according to Lynch. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

These aggressive moves come as more consumers warm up to the idea of viewing sports through streaming services. A reported 69% of sports fans listed SVODs like Netflix, Peacock and Paramount+ as one of the ways they watch live sports, according to a Hub Research report that surveyed 3,753 U.S.-based sports fans. That number marked a 7% increase and signaled for the first time that sports fans were more likely to  watch sports on SVOD platforms than on cable or broadcast. Samsung Ads also found that, during the NFL season, there\u2019s an increase of what the division calls streaming samplers, people who only use an app two to three times a month. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Overall, 66% of sports fans said they watched games on broadcast, down from 72% in 2024. Cable saw an even steeper year-over-year decline of 10% with 63% of respondents saying that\u2019s how they watch live sports.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tubi\u2019s stream of the Super Bowl this February further proved this trend. The Fox-owned streamer secured a record-breaking 13.6 million<\/a> average minute audience. That live stream also boosted overall platform viewership by 18%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The risk of rising prices<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As streamers balance growing profitability and subscribers with competing for sports rights, they\u2019re left with a difficult choice: cut back on their sports spending or pass those costs onto consumers. The risk, of course, is customers will just up and leave after the season is over. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMedia companies would likely be making a mistake if they felt they had carte blanche when it comes to what they charge for sports content,\u201d Horowitz Research executive vice president of insights and strategy Adriana Waterson told TheWrap. \u201cWhile the most avid sports fans tell us that no matter how high prices surge they will continue to pay to access their favorite sports, casual fans are much less willing to do so.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro told TheWrap he \u201cfeels good\u201d about the current $12 rate, which has more than doubled from its original rate of $5 a month, and \u201creally good\u201d about the pricing of its recently launched ESPN streaming service, which offers an Unlimited plan for $29.99 per month and a Select plan for $11.99 per month. ESPN has \u201cnot thought at all\u201d about the future of pricing for either tier, he added.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When asked about his thoughts on the trajectory of rising sports rights costs during a Bank of America investor conference last week, Pitaro replied: “I don’t have a crystal ball. I don’t know how sustainable this type of growth is. I think a lot of people expected the big tech players to spend more aggressively, bid more aggressively than they have. But I’m not sure how we’re going to continue to see significant increases when there’s not a lot on the marketplace.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the same time, there have been some efforts to give consumers more bang for their buck through bundles. ESPN is offered in bundles with Disney+ and Hulu for $35.99 per month with ads and $44.99 per month without ads. At launch, the bundle will cost $29.99 for the first 12 months. ESPN is also available in a bundle with Fox One for $39.99 per month. Additionally, Peacock, Apple TV+ and Netflix are available in Comcast\u2019s StreamSaver bundle for $15 per month and Prime Video offers Fox One, ESPN+, HBO Max and Peacock Premium and Paramount+ as add-ons.  <\/p>\n\n\n

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When asked about how the company\u2019s sports rights negotiations could influence streaming prices down the line, ESPN\u2019s executive vice president of programming and acquisitions Rosalyn Durant told TheWrap the company would be \u201cdisciplined.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe understand that we can\u2019t have everything, but we are proud to have the best live portfolio in the industry and it\u2019s important to us that we protect it,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019ll continue to do smart deals so we can best serve sports fans.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gabe Spitzer, vice president of sports at Netflix, was less certain about the financial future of sports for fans, saying, \u201cOn the sports side, obviously, we’re still very, very young and very early in that journey. We’re just approaching it from … what are those events that are going to bring a ton of value to our members around the world?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Warner Bros. Discovery’s chief financial officer Gunnar Wiedenfels said the rise in streaming prices has been “healthy” during the same Bank of America conference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We’re coming off of a period where enormous amounts of quality content were given away below value. So I think that trend has been pretty consistent and I expect will continue to persist,” he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But as much as the financial toll has been a question, this new era of sports rights ownership has also led to content experimentation and tech innovation. The WWE \u2014 once dismissed as a niche property \u2014 has secured major deals with Netflix and ESPN worth billions. Formula 1, a franchise that was ignored in America for years, has a $150 million deal<\/a> with Apple. Even tinier sports like Professional Bull Riding<\/a> are getting media deals. Meanwhile, the technology driving these platforms<\/a> has become more sophisticated. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt’s not only good for advertisers, it’s good for fans. It’s ultimately going to give a richer, more in-depth experience and give more choice,\u201d Cunningham said. \u201cIt’s an expensive competition. But ultimately, through all of this competition has come a lot of innovation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additional reporting by Loree Seitz<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coming up on Thursday:<\/strong> TheWrap looks at how Hollywood talent agencies have jumped into the booming business of sports representation.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

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A Wrap series: Thanks to streamers, sports rights have been sold for billions across different platforms just as average Americans have reached their spending limit<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10245,"featured_media":7835238,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"single-full-width-with-ads","format":"standard","meta":{"byline":{"profiles":[{"type":"byline_id","atts":{"term_id":504731,"post_id":7303348}},{"type":"byline_id","atts":{"term_id":504716,"post_id":7303318}}]},"_links_to":"","_links_to_type":0,"nb_breaking_email_type":"","nb_breaking_template":"","nb_breaking_from_name":"TheWrap","nb_breaking_subject":"","nb_breaking_preview":"","nb_breaking_list":[],"nb_breaking_header_img":0,"nb_breaking_should_send":false,"nb_breaking_content":"","nb_newsletter_sent_breaking_post_id":[],"apple_news_api_created_at":"2025-09-09T13:00:48Z","apple_news_api_id":"c150b62b-7189-47a4-8ab1-6ca82c432d9a","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2025-09-25T13:52:49Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACQ==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AwVC2K3GJR6SKsWyoLEMtmg","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"hide_featured_image":false,"the_wrap_post_enable_full_width_featured_image":false,"the_wrap_post_enable_featured_video":false,"the_wrap_post_featured_video":"","the_wrap_post_disable_read_more":false,"wp_curate_deduplication":false,"wp_curate_unique_pinned_posts":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[279383],"tags":[462449,513404,513263,1440,593,433226],"tw_data_partners":[],"columns":[],"byline":[504716,504731],"class_list":["post-7829979","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-game-on","tag-game-on-series-2","tag-gameon","tag-nba","tag-nfl","tag-wrappro"],"newsletter_builder_byline":"Kayla Cobb and Lucas Manfredi","is_pro_article":true,"apple_news_notices":[],"eyebrow":{"link":"https:\/\/www.thewrap.com\/industry-news\/business\/","text":"Business"},"tw_schema_org_review":{"name":"","type":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thewrap.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7829979","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thewrap.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thewrap.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thewrap.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10245"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thewrap.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7829979"}],"version-history":[{"count":24,"href":"https:\/\/www.thewrap.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7829979\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7852027,"href":"https:\/\/www.thewrap.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7829979\/revisions\/7852027"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thewrap.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7835238"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thewrap.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7829979"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thewrap.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7829979"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thewrap.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7829979"},{"taxonomy":"tw_data_partners","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thewrap.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tw_data_partners?post=7829979"},{"taxonomy":"tw_column","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thewrap.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/columns?post=7829979"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thewrap.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=7829979"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}