When it comes to live sports, consumers show streaming services the money
When it comes to live sports, consumers show streaming services the money
Netflix continues to dominate in the streaming wars — or, you might say, body slam the competition. The company reported strong quarterly earnings Tuesday amid news that it will become the new home for “Raw,” WWE’s Monday night pro wrestling show, starting next January.
The 10-year, $5 billion deal puts Netflix in the ring for what’s shaping up to be the next battle in the streaming wars: live sports rights.
It’s not always easy being a sports fan in the Big Easy, but Jonathan Barnes has stuck with his New Orleans teams through their ups and downs, watching on numerous streaming services.
“I do have Hulu. I have the package for that, which includes ESPN+. I have Apple TV. I have Amazon Prime. I also have Peacock,” he said.
In fact, Peacock was the only place he could find the NFL playoff game between the Miami Dolphins and the Kansas City Chiefs — aka Taylor Swift’s boyfriend’s team — a couple of weeks ago.
Barnes doesn’t have Netflix at the moment. But as a diehard fan of World Wrestling Entertainment, he said he’ll probably add that subscription next year.
“And it kind of scares me to think that are we going to soon be in a future where you have to have these streaming platforms if you want to watch your favorite teams,” he said. “That would not be fair at all to the consumer.”
But as long as consumers are willing to play ball, streaming platforms will be looking to score. (Sorry, we’re mixing a few sports metaphors here.)
“Sports content drives eyeballs, advertisers know it, streaming services know it,” said Eric Sorensen, senior analyst with Parks Associates.
And they’ll pay big bucks to get in on it. Amazon Prime now has “Thursday Night Football” and Apple has pro soccer.
“From a streaming perspective, we find that those can drive big pops,” said Brendan Brady at market data firm Antenna.
The audience for streaming live sports is growing rapidly, he said, and fans who sign up for an event at the beginning of the season often come back for more.
“That user, if they’re a superfan, is likely going to need that service and so they’ll stay subscribed,” he said.
That Dolphins-Chiefs game on Peacock attracted about 23 million viewers — the biggest live streaming event ever. But it had a smaller audience than other NFL playoff games, pointed out Ross Benes, senior analyst at eMarketer.
“It may have been the most streamed sporting event in U.S. history, but it was also the least-watched NFL game that weekend,” he said.
Even with that boost from all those Swifties.
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