Sports Fans Consumer Trends 2019

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The 20,000 Foot View:  Sports-centric subscription video on demand (SVOD) services have largely struggled to entice subscribers, based on their current value propositions which consist mainly of niche rights. Pay-TV has the lion’s share of premium domestic sports rights, providing it with an advantageous set of assets partially justifying premium-priced contracts for its subscriber base. The move by streaming insurgent DAZN to incorporate advertising behind its paywall illustrates a need for pure-play sport SVODs to diversify their revenue streams. The tolerance of sports fans towards advertising is now crucial in building robust and sustainable business models for sports broadcasting in the streaming ecosystem.

Key Findings

       of sports SVOD weekly active users (WAUs) are        years old        year olds only account for        of all sports SVOD WAUs, compared to        of consumers who watch live sports on TV
• While engagement for sport-centric services is still niche, adoption in terms of WAU has increased among        year olds, rising from        in        2018 to        in        2019
• Future sports fans        year olds) significantly under index for all sports video consumption, representing a growing concern for sporting bodies
       year olds are twice as likely as the average consumer to play Fortnite weekly, while being half as likely as the average consumer to watch live sports on TV 
• DAZN’s insufficient rights offering is highlighted by only        of US consumers subscribing in        2019, peaking in Germany at only        penetration
• Free streamers of sports are more receptive to adverts than viewers of sports on live TV, with        not skipping adverts deemed relevant

Companies and brands mentioned in this report:  DAZN, English Premier League, Fortnite, Liverpool FC, MLB, Netflix, NHL, UEFA Champions League