Sixth of US broadband households subscribe to an OTT sports service


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Joseph O'Halloran

| 06 May 2016




Research from Parks Associates has revealed that 16% of US broadband households have a sports video service subscription through over-the-top (OTT) video.



parks 6 May 2016The Subscriptions and Churn in OTT Video Services report showed that NFL Game Pass leads the market with 6% of all sports OTT video service subscriptions, with the NFL Game Pass the most highly adopted service, with 6% of US broadband households having a subscription compared with 4% for the WWE Network and MLB.TV. This was even though NFL Game Pass does not stream live games.

The survey also shows that the crossover between pay-TV and OTT is more prevalent among sports service subscribers than other OTT users. In most cases, said the analyst, the highest proportions of consumers indicate signing up for their sports services through a TV service provider, with 63% of NFL Game Pass users signing up through their pay-TV provider.

“For sports content owners, OTT is a viable way to expand audience reach, but there are technical issues to consider,” commented Parks Research Analyst Glenn Hower and author of the report. “The user experience is of paramount importance to the viewer for sports content. The lead established by the NFL speaks to popularity of football, and the league’s service has avoided a major hurdle since it does not stream live games.

“Leagues lean heavily on television distribution partners for revenue, and disruption to existing distribution models may give television partners pause. A rapid expansion in sports OTT growth requires either heavy external investment from a streaming distribution partner – like a Google or Apple – or a tiered business model that targets key consumers for all-access services.”