Streamers to account for a fifth of all sports rights spend in 2023
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Editor
| 21 February 2023
Driven by the massive deals inked by Amazon and YouTube to show NFL action, the global spend on sports rights is set to reach $8.5 billion in 2023, a 64% increase compared with the previous year according to a new report from Ampere Analysis.
AMpere SUB OTT sports 21Feb2021
If If realised, this would mean the share of spend on sports rights by streaming platforms will increase in 2023 to reach 21% of global sports rights investment, up from 13% in 2022.

The study makes the case for how streamers are helping help media rights owners achieve revenue growth. It noted that subscription OTT services’ spend on sports rights has lagged compared with investment in original TV and film. It calculated that in 2022, 28% of original content spending was from streaming platforms such as Netflix, Disney+, Prime Video and Apple TV+.

It added that as streaming technology has improved, and as fans increasingly expect to be able to stream their favourite sports, the sports streaming model finally took off. Moreover, Ampere believes that the challenging economic outlook for traditional sports broadcasters – such as pay-TV channels, ad-funded commercial channels and public service broadcasters – incentivises rights owners to appeal to streaming platforms in order to achieve media rights growth.

Looking at companies setting the pace in the race to market leadership, the study pinpointed DAZN as leading the way for streaming platforms’ growing investment in sports rights, particularly in Europe. The global OTT sports streaming service accounted for more than half (54%) of all subscription OTT services’ spend on sports rights in 2022.

Coming up on the rails are a growing number of general entertainment services – such as Peacock and Viaplay – as providers look to differentiate from peers in an increasingly crowded market. General entertainment services accounted for six of the top 10 subscription OTT services by global spend on sports rights in 2022.

Ampere regards NFL’s exclusive deal with Amazon as arguably the turning point for sports on general entertainment OTT platforms. It represented the largest single deal signed to-date by any sports streaming service, and has since been surpassed only by YouTube – also with the NFL.

“The transition to streaming will take longer for sports than for other genres. This is in part because of the nature of sports rights deals, which typically span multiple years,” said Ampere Analysis research manager Jack Genovese. “It is also due to the sheer value of sports rights, and the sensitivities characterising the distribution and consumption of sport. The need for high quality, low latency feeds will continue to favour risk-averse behaviour among broadcasters and rights owners alike. However, streaming will offer opportunities for sports to experiment with content, distribution and monetisation, which will revolutionise the way in which sports rights are sold and bought in the future."