Key Points
- A survey of sports media executives found global streaming platforms are increasingly expected to dominate the future sports media landscape.
- Amazon’s Prime Video ranked as the platform most likely to lead sports streaming, followed by YouTube and Netflix.
- While sports rights can drive subscription spikes, executives say the gains are often temporary, with many viewers canceling once a season ends.
Global entertainment streamers are increasingly positioned to control the future of sports media, with Amazon’s Prime Video viewed as the likely winner of the sports-on-streaming race, according to a survey of sports media executives conducted by Looper Insights.
While most Americans continue to watch sports on traditional broadcast and cable networks today, streaming juggernauts like Prime Video, Netflix and Google-owned YouTube are aggressively pursuing premium sports rights on their own — and they’re capturing a small part of the action, from National Basketball Association (NBA) rights on Prime Video to one-off, regular-season football games from the National Football League (NFL) on YouTube.
That strategy is likely to evolve over the coming years as streamers make ambitious moves to chip away at traditional TV’s sports programming lead, executives surveyed by Looper Insights opined. But only a few streaming services are likely to amass the kind of power needed to sustain that momentum, with Amazon viewed as the service likely to come out on top.
Nearly 41 percent of those surveyed said global entertainment streaming platforms such as Netflix and Prime Video will hold the greatest structural power in sports media by 2026. That figure narrowly edged out sports leagues and rights holders, which received 39 percent support. Legacy sports broadcasters attempting to adapt their businesses for streaming drew just 2 percent of responses.
When asked which individual platform will hold the strongest position in sports streaming, Prime Video ranked first with 35 percent of responses. YouTube placed second with 19 percent, followed closely by Netflix with 18 percent.
The findings align with broader industry forecasts that Amazon will become the largest investor in sports streaming rights. Analysts cited in the report estimate the company will spend about $3.8 billion annually on sports rights, surpassing sports-focused streaming platform DAZN.
Survey respondents indicated that scale and global reach are now more critical than the size of rights fees alone. Nearly 39 percent said global reach and scale will be the most important factor in the next cycle of sports media rights negotiations, while 37 percent pointed to the value of audience data and insights.
Despite the growing importance of sports programming to streaming services, the report also highlights challenges related to subscriber retention. While high-profile sports events can drive significant spikes in subscriptions, those gains often prove temporary.
Nearly two out of five respondents said marquee sports events tend to produce short-term subscription increases with limited long-term impact. Another 37 percent of survey participants said sports programming primarily strengthens engagement with services viewers already use rather than creating new, lasting loyalty.
Industry data cited in the report reinforces that concern, with Looper Insights citing a report from Samsung Ads that claims two-thirds of fans who sign up for a streaming service to follow a particular sport wind up churning out in the off-season. The claim aligns with some publicly-available subscription data from services like Fubo, which reports higher churn toward the end of the first quarter (Q1) of each year once the NFL’s season ends.
For this reason, many streaming players are taking a page from broadcast networks by diversifying their sports offerings in order to market themselves as year-long destinations for premium athletic events. Fox, for instance, offers football in the fall winter months, then airs baseball games and NASCAR races in the spring and summer months. NBC has started airing basketball games on its broadcast network and Peacock streaming service, and will soon offer baseball games on both platforms; Amazon streams NFL games on Thursdays and during some holidays, and began airing NBA games late last year.
When it comes to acquiring sports programming, executives believe artificial intelligence tools will give sports rights holders a competitive edge, especially those who have significant data sets to determine what fans are watching and whether the amount paid for sports rights is worth it.
More than 37 percent of respondents said global streaming services with large audiences and extensive data resources are best positioned to benefit from AI-driven transformation, suggesting the technology will reinforce existing market advantages rather than disrupt them.
The role of YouTube in sports distribution remains less certain. Around 40 percent of respondents believe the platform could evolve into a full operating system for sports media, while 38 percent expect resistance from leagues and rights holders that may limit its expansion into live sports rights.
The full report from Looper Insights is available to view by clicking or tapping here.
