Survey: TV sports rights too fragmented
October 31, 2023
Sports fans crave more TV content but have trouble accessing it due to the fragmented nature of the sports rights market, according to Altman Solon’s 2023 Global Sports Media Survey. The survey of more than 2,500 sports fans from eight major global markets reveals that 59 per cent say they currently have trouble finding or affording sports content they want to watch while 56 per cent would watch more sports content if it were available.
Once the province of TV networks and pay-TV providers, streaming services have become big sports players. In recent years, there have been broadcasting rights deals like Prime Video acquiring Premier League and Champions League football, and ATP and WTA tennis. In addition, Viaplay has the rights to stream 300 live Spanish La Liga matches per season, and DAZN streams F1, various European football leagues, as well as boxing and MMA events.
The current industry structure in media distribution is not making life easier for fans wanting to discover and access the content they care about. Of the sports fans who say they have trouble accessing live sports content, 35 per cent say it’s too expensive to access all the content they want, 30 per cent don’t know which channels to watch, and 28 per cent don’t know which platforms to watch.
“It seems counterintuitive that the answer to the glut of sports content is more sports content, but sports fans are hungry for more,” said Altman Solon Director David Dellea. “It turns out fans actually want more content, but often can’t afford the costs of additional subscriptions or get lost in the web of channels and streaming platforms providing content. Some form of industry consolidation seems likely, either through audience aggregation or content democratisation, which should be beneficial for both the industry and sports fans.”
This year’s survey included a poll of more than 150 global sports media executives to understand the priorities and solutions for a changing industry. The executives identify facilitating content aggregation (65 per cent), improving content promotion (64 per cent), and fostering flexible pricing (58 per cent) as the top ways to make content more globally accessible.
The executives also pointed to a transformation in the way consumers view fandom, with more than half (56 per cent) expecting a continued transition towards a more fluid and athlete-driven fandom, opposed to loyally following the same teams.
“It is important to recognise that the way fans consume sports is much different from a generation ago or even at the end of the past decade,” said Altman Solon Director Matt Del Percio. “While historically fandom was defined by the local team(s) you follow – and often the team your parents followed – modern sports fans are now more making decisions based on athletes’ on-field performance and off-the-field personalities or social media presence.”
Other key findings of the consumer portion of the survey include:
· Global fans of all ages are multitasking on other digital media while watching sports: 57 per cent browse the internet, 50 per cent use social media, 43 per cent use messaging
· Younger fans average 1.5x more hours online compared to older fans, underscoring the need for sports media to provide multi-platform content experiences
· Average TV hours watched per week is expected to drop 16 per cent by 2040