With accelerated digitization, there has been a structural shift in the way fans engage with sports. The world of sports is now as global as it is local allowing the fan to know about every sporting or non-sporting developments of their favourite player or club. What happens on the pitch in London affects almost instantaneously to the fan in faraway Indonesia or the remote corners in Africa. Sports is now a 24/7 business.
Welcome the era of connected fan.
Two factors have been instrumental in this change. One of them is content. It is now a more consuming, structured and calculated process of developing, distributing and scheduling content, all for keeping the fan connected to the club. What once was limited to stadium events is now a round-the-clock business. The fact is fans are consuming content voraciously and demanding even more. The other factor is the distribution of content. It’s almost an equation, sports consumption drives content creation. How fans consume sport will define the nature, quantity and type of content being created. A PwC survey states, for younger audiences between ages 18-34, attention spans grow ever shorter all the while demand for unique experiences rises.
In this blog, we look at the nature of sports media consumption in modern day.
Consumption Behaviour
A large role in change of sports consumption is led by technological advances. A research from Kantar, titled, New Entertainment on Demand suggests that fans love variety, but need a great viewing experience to stay engaged. That is one of the key benefits brought by advanced digital technology in making the viewer more involved essentially improving the viewing experience. Substantiating the point, a Mastercard Sports Economy Index survey in 2023 suggests nearly two thirds (61%) of European sports fans say technology plays a major role in their enjoyment of their favourite teams, leagues and events.
The nature of sports and their fans are such that it varies by geographies, by sports, by socio-economic factors. If a need for creating a common denominator for such preferences come, it can be plugged in three key buckets:
- Constantly connected: Fans are no longer confined to linear TV and would like to keep themselves updated all times. Which leads to a large portion of use over mobile devices.
- Every fan is different: And as such would like to see content tailor-made for them keeping their interests and preferences in mind.
- Like to be more involved: This is where new-gen technology is playing its part. AI leading content customization, Augmented gameplay and analysis, immersive action generation, all such technological developments make it possible for the fans to ever more involved.
Media Preferences
With the increase in non-live sports content, the verdict is clear – consumers are interested in content beyond live sports action. This leads to the question – where do the consumers watch it? Answer: Streaming devices supported by social media. For streaming devices, documentaries, behind-the-scenes stories have contributed to its rise and at the same time, content were created because these types of devices were available.
As multiple studies show, convenience is the key to consumers today. Streaming over mobile devices lends that convenience. Kantar’s research shows a huge 95% of sports fans in the US stream VoD, while Cable TV (Pay TV) penetration has dropped 8% in two years. An example about sports viewership and media of choice from a research by YouGov gave the following results:
- While Live TV still remains the primary medium, with 67% of US adults tuning in. However, usage is highest among 65+ adults (82%) and lowest among 18-29-year-olds (54%).
- Younger consumers are more likely to favor social media (62%) and mobile apps (39%), while older consumers show little interest in these platforms (16% for social media, 12% for apps
- Online live streams and highlights appeal to 40% of younger adults, but drop to just 20% among those 65+.
- Traditional formats like radio and newspapers remain niche but resonate more with older audiences.
- The middle-aged group (those aged between 30-44) are among the most likely to watch sports out of home, either at a bar or restaurant (23%) or in other people’s homes (23%).
It is this highly mixed market that coexists with each other in the present times It’s the same story in Europe, where sports rights are becoming more fragmented. Almost like a hybrid model-coexistence between live and non-live sports is coming into play.
Role of Social Media
With social media, a whole new level of fan engagement began. For clubs, athletes, sponsors, federations, social media platforms were the fastest and easiest way to pass a message across and connect with fans more closely. They could also reach newer territories and develop & establish a relationship with fans from those areas. Fans began to love it and felt closer to their favourite athlete or club.
One of the most significant achievements of social media is its role in expanding the European club football fan base throughout the globe. Fans from countries with little or no historical connection to European football clubs began to be associated with them and started to form a relationship. A study of the social media fan following of the 25 most followed football clubs between Oct 2021 to Oct 2024 gave interesting results. Platforms used for the study are primary English channels clubs in Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, X (formerly Twitter) and TikTok. Multiple studies have been conducted in this space underscoring some key insights:
- Globally, the majority of sports watchers are likely to browse social media while watching matches.
- Fans away from stadium, unable to see live matches are turning to digital and social media, to enjoy live matches as well keeping up-to-date through always-on content.
- Rise of short form content: As per the IMG Digital Trends 2025 report, in recent years short-form video platforms have exploded in recent years with TikTok having 1bn+ monthly active users, Instagram Reels, which is only four years old, reports that 2.35bn people interact every month with the majority of the users in the 25-34 age group.
Champions League on Netflix?
Cut to the entry of Netflix in live sports streaming. They recently acquired exclusive U.S. streaming rights for the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2027 and 2031 and marked their entry in football. And now there are serious discussions of Netflix (and maybe other streamers like Disney etc.) being approached for the all-prestigious, lucrative UEFA Champions League.
The 2027–33 media rights tender will perhaps be the most futuristic ever from UEFA. The stated goal is to maximize revenue for European club competitions.
There could be multiple situations or breakdown of the tender like ‘global first-pick match’ or ‘one game per round’ to each streamer or even a geographical breakdown or even a hybrid model. Point is, how this media rights tender culminates will probably be the direction of sports media consumption in near future.
That said, the challenges are manifold for Netflix. After testing the live sports streaming arena with an exhibition golf in 2023, The Netflix Cup, they increased the scope with the exhibition boxing fight between Jake Paul and Mike Tyson, which saw an Estimated average minute audience (AMA) of 108mn live viewers globally tuned in from opening to closing bell. The bout, faced some technical issues, peaked at 65mn concurrent streams.
The second test for Netflix was with the $150mn Christmas day NFL live double-header along with added performances by Mariah Carey and Beyoncé. They not only passed the test in terms of technicalities but also raked up a combined 65mn US viewers. Buoyed by this as well as others like WWE, other NFL matches, Netflix has turned on the entry into live sports in full steam.
In Conclusion
It is essential to have a deep understanding of the changing patterns of consumer behaviour including consumer attitudes, preferences, and consumption habits. For now, it seems that a likely way forward is going be a hybrid model with liner and streaming coexisting for the next few years before a definitive path is established.
