蘑菇AV

The news: Women鈥檚 sports is continuing to grow in relevance, reaching new milestones in 2024, per research from the charity Women鈥檚 Sport Trust. Leagues like the Women鈥檚 National Basketball Association (WNBA) grew significantly across social media in the 2024 season, reaching a single-season record of nearly 2 billion video views across WNBA social media platforms鈥攎ore than quadruple the previous season. Our take: As more brands invest in women鈥檚 sports and viewership spikes, advertisers must recognize women鈥檚 sports not as a niche category only relevant for select moments, but as a critical part of a comprehensive sports marketing campaign.

And it continues to expand its live sports offerings. When Prime Video鈥檚 ad tier launched in 2024, it featured just a few minutes of ads per hour. Amazon plans to increase Prime Video鈥檚 ad loads, which will increase ad revenues while testing consumer patience. Amazon鈥檚 most similar CTV competitor is arguably Roku.

Canceling Venu Sports is expected to cost Disney鈥檚 sports segment $50 million, further adding pressure to its streaming business. Peacock is betting big on live sports, but profitability remains elusive. The platform added 16% more subscribers YoY, reaching 36 million, while revenues surged 46% to $4.9 billion.

Live sports programming has become the biggest variable, although growth is difficult to achieve no matter what. Peacock grew its time spent the most last year, thanks overwhelmingly to sports. Amazon Prime Video will top the active user growth list this year for the same reason. Disney+ is also growing well, but mainly because Disney is allowing it to steal engagement from Hulu.

Live sports were an exception: Disney鈥檚 US sports segment received a 29% increase in ad revenues. Paramount鈥檚 ad revenues were flat from 2024 to 2025 when excluding ad revenues from its 2024 Super Bowl broadcast. Fox鈥檚 ad revenues grew 65% YoY, primarily due to its broadcast of the 2025 Super Bowl. Each of these companies sells CTV and linear TV inventory.

Digital live sports viewers have surpassed traditional pay TV live sports viewers in the US, per 蘑菇AV forecast. This trend will continue next year, when 114.1 million people will watch sports via digital while 82.0 million will watch via TV.

Bigger, better, faster: ESPN鈥檚 service will offer two tiers鈥擡SPN Select, similar to today鈥檚 ESPN+, and ESPN Unlimited, which unlocks all ESPN networks and live ABC sports. The $29.99/month base option can also be bundled with Hulu and Disney+ for $35.99/month with ads. A launch window deal will drop the bundle to $29.99/month for the first year.

NBCU looks to secure MLB rights after ESPN backs out: The deal would position NBCU as a one-stop shop for sports, enhancing its value for advertisers.

Netflix ad-supported tier hits 70 million users: Live sports and exclusive sponsorships boost subscriber growth and advertising revenues.

YouTube strikes deal to broadcast first game of the NFL season: The move responds to fans embracing digital for sports and presents an opportunity for advertisers.

105.3 million people in the US will watch live sports via digital this year, up from 95.5 million last year, per our September 2024 forecast.

Live sports programming accounted for nearly 40% of US national TV ad spend in both Q4 2022 and Q4 2023, according to September 2024 data from iSpot.tv.

Netflix reports 15% revenue growth: Its ad-supported tier and live sports drove success despite slowing subscriber gains.

Fox Corp. Q3 fueled by political ads and Tubi growth: Live sports and news strategy drives gains, with digital ads growing.

The company described the updates as a 鈥渇lexible canvas鈥� that accommodates its live sports and gaming content, both of which Netflix has spent considerable resources on to develop and deploy.

Comcast Q3 performance fueled by streaming and live sports: Olympics and Peacock growth attract high-value audiences for advertisers.

That blend of entertainment and live sports could help insulate Disney from broader market pressures鈥攅specially as consumer wallets tighten. Looking ahead: Disney+ is projected to generate $4.12 billion in US subscription revenues in 2025, per our forecast. That鈥檚 up 8.6% from the prior year, while its ad-supported tier should bring in $1.27 billion鈥攎arking a 20.1% increase.

FAST trend grows globally: New channels from Free Live Sports, CBC, and Pluto TV showcase demand for free, ad-supported streaming options.

Live sports are a crucial asset for any traditional or digital video service offering. YouTube TV verified this truism when viewership boomed immediately after it became the go-to hub for out-of-market NFL games in 2023. NFL Sunday Ticket is a very expensive add-on to a service that itself has become expensive, but YouTube TV鈥檚 growth outlook remains stable mainly because of this one asset.

The number of women鈥檚 live sports viewers has grown tremendously. This year, more than double the number of people will watch women鈥檚 sports monthly than in 2022.

On today's episode, we discuss how this year's Amazon Prime Day will be different, how competitors can maximize the sales holiday's impact, and an uncanny link between Prime Day and the end-of-year holiday season. "In Other News," we talk about the significance of NBCUniversal and Walmart Connect bringing targeted ads to live sports and Amazon's AI initiatives. Tune in to the discussion with our vice president and analyst Andrew Lipsman.

Walmart Connect is teaming up with NBCU to power ads in sports livestreams: The partnership is part of Walmart Connect鈥檚 growing CTV ambitions, which includes an expanded deal with Roku.

NBCUniversal and Amazon paid a fortune for NBA rights in the hopes that Peacock and Prime Video would continue to gain and maintain subscribers due to exclusive sports rights. We forecast that live sports viewing will keep shrinking on traditional TV and growing on digital services. In 2022, more sports viewers watched via traditional TV than digital services.