A soccer fan posts a video on social media during the UEFA Euro 2024 semi-finals.
Otherwise Esnaola | Getty Images Sports | Getty Images
The world of live sporting events is undergoing a transformation as people use more and more screens to choose their own streaming experience.
Today, the vast majority of sports fans they say they use other screens during live streams, while chatting about the game with friends or checking social media. A growing number of younger fans, meanwhile, are turning to video platforms to watch highlights, listen to live commentary from influencers and engage in communities built around sports.
YouTube is one of the biggest winners. A platform owned by Google-parent Alphabetsaw increase in viewership of sports content by 45% 2024 as people searched for highlights from the Paris Olympics and watched YouTube’s exclusive NFL broadcast on Sundays.
Content creators like Mark Goldbridge, a British streamer who hosts live “watchalongs” of Premier League soccer matches on YouTube, have helped the platform provide alternative sports experiences.
“People are no longer just watching Sky Sports at half past five, they’re multitasking,” Goldbridge told CNBC, referring to Europe’s top sports broadcaster. “They join our live chat; they play Championship Manager with sports in the background.”
Its broadcasts, which regularly attract more than 250,000 viewers, also provide an alternative route for broadcasters to reach a global audience. In November 2024, Sky Sports Austria granted Goldbridge the rights to live stream its coverage of an Austrian Bundesliga soccer match as part of its YouTube viewing experience, helping to reach its community of 1.3 million fans.
The popular football show “Hors Jeu” is streamed on Twitch and YouTube.
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For rights holders, the migration of viewers to streaming platforms is extremely lucrative. Competition from Amazon, Netflixand Disney helped increase the value of US sports media streaming rights 14.6 billion dollars in 2015 to almost 30 billion dollars in 2024, according to estimates from S&P.
But even though these jobs are becoming more common in the US, not all countries have caught up.
“There’s been a lot more stagnation in European markets like Germany, France and Britain to some extent,” Ben Stevenson, head of research at research firm SportBusiness, told CNBC. “Media revenues in those markets have fallen post-Covid, and teams or leagues tend to prefer the guaranteed viewership that comes with traditional broadcast deals.”
The fastest moving markets
The dominance of traditional broadcasters in Europe and North America means that innovations in streaming often come from less developed markets.
“Rights holders are looking for deals with legacy broadcasters because they get guaranteed revenue,” Stevenson said. “Thus, streamer deals have emerged in markets lacking media rights contracts that have reached a certain minimum guarantee.”
In Brazil, where soccer clubs, not leagues, own the rights to broadcast first-division matches, the broadcast has shifted to social media. In 2022, CazéTV, a production company owned by the LiveMode agency and popular Brazilian streamer Casimir, won the rights to broadcast live matches of the Rio de Janeiro State League with live reactions from its own commentators.
A fan listens to live commentary on a mobile phone during the Barclays Women’s Super League match between Manchester United and Aston Villa.
Matt Mcnulty | Getty Images Sports | Getty Images
The success of the format led to CazéTV securing the rights to broadcast 50% of the 2022 FIFA World Cup matches on Casimir’s Twitch and YouTube channels. LiveMode co-founder Sergio Lopes told the StreamTime Sports podcast that Casimir’s live stream was viewed on 48 million different devices, with people tuning in to see the streamer’s reaction to each pass or play.
Relying on Casimir’s commentary on CazéTV meant that FIFA was able to avoid cannibalizing its own engagement while promoting its pay-per-view channel.
These changes are an opportunity for traditional broadcasters to develop lucrative new content formats, Stevenson said. “F1 has increased its business value from about $4 million a year to about $80 million by moving from live to digital programming,” he told CNBC.
Britain’s Sky Sports, meanwhile, is also rushing to adapt. In August 2024, it launched its own streaming service to meet people’s growing demand for live sports — giving them access to four times as many minor league football games, as well as more coverage of tennis, golf and other sports.
Disclosure: Comcast, which owns CNBC’s parent company NBCUniversal, owns Sky Sports.
