Research: SVoD Catalogues Upping Sports Content

Why It Matters

The surge in sports programming signals a strategic shift for streamers seeking higher engagement and subscriber retention, especially as live sports remain a premium draw. It also reshapes the competitive landscape, giving platforms with robust sports libraries a distinct advantage.

Key Takeaways

• Sports now 5% of global SVoD catalog, up from 1.4% in 2024
• HBO Max holds 35% of sports titles, 42% of live events
• Paramount+ leads individual sports events at 30% before HBO Max inclusion
• FAST channel count rose 19% YoY; news FAST up 57%
• 37% of sports FAST content consists of live events

Pulse Analysis

The rapid rise of sports content on subscription‑video‑on‑demand services reflects a broader industry pivot toward live, event‑driven programming. As cord‑cutting accelerates, providers are leveraging sports to differentiate their libraries and curb churn, capitalizing on the fact that live sports generate higher watch times and ad revenues than on‑demand series. Gracenote’s data shows that sports now occupy 5 percent of the combined catalog, a notable increase that underscores the genre’s growing importance in the streaming ecosystem.

HBO Max’s aggressive acquisition of sports rights positions it as the clear leader, delivering over a third of all sports titles and nearly half of the individual events. This advantage is amplified by the pending Paramount Skydance acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery, which could further consolidate sports assets and create a formidable competitor to Amazon’s Prime Video and Disney’s Disney+. Meanwhile, Paramount+ maintains a strong foothold in event‑level sports, holding 30 percent of games and events, suggesting that a multi‑platform strategy may be essential for capturing diverse sports audiences.

Free‑Ad‑Supported Streaming TV (FAST) channels are emerging as a vital distribution layer for live sports, with a 19 percent YoY increase in channel count and news FAST channels growing 57 percent. Approximately 37 percent of sports content on FAST is live, offering advertisers premium inventory and viewers cost‑free access to real‑time events. This trend indicates that future growth in streaming sports will likely be driven not only by subscription bundles but also by ad‑supported models that broaden reach and monetize live viewership across fragmented platforms.