Hub: Sports Audiences Have Embraced Streaming

According to Hub Entertainment Research, sports fans in the U.S. are as likely to watch live games on streamers as they are on broadcast or cable networks.

Per Hub’s What’s the Score? report, 69 percent of viewers watch some live games on SVOD, on par with broadcast (66 percent) and cable (63 percent), up from 62 percent a year ago.

Further, in 2024, only 23 percent of respondents saw SVOD as their first stop for sports content; that is up to 30 percent today, alongside cable (31 percent) and broadcast (29 percent).

Young people and minorities are more likely to head to streaming for their sports fix. Per Hub, 48 percent of those under 35 signed up to an SVOD service for sports, versus 29 percent of those above 35. Subscribing specifically for sports is also more common among Hispanic (46 percent) and Black (38 percent) fans.

“Sports is following the same migration paths to streaming as scripted TV—just a lot faster,” said Jon Giegengack, principal at Hub and one of the study’s authors. “It took several years before viewers considered Netflix the equal of ‘must-see TV’ on broadcast or cable. But as more big events moved to streaming over 2024, fans have been quickly convinced that streamers will deliver the experience they want. As more high-profile properties move online—like NBA games on Amazon or the Super Bowl on Tubi—young fans will grow up with streaming platforms as the ‘home’ of their favorite sports.”