PORTSMOUTH, N.H.—A new survey from Hub Entertainment Research highlights the importance of sports content on streaming platforms, with viewers saying they care more about sports than anything else on TV.
But as streaming services bulk up on their sports programming, the Hub survey also found that fans are increasingly frustrated with the hassle of finding sports content and using multiple streaming platforms to follow teams and sports.
“These findings prove once again that sports have unrivaled power to attract new viewers to a platform, and keep them engaged over time,” said Jon Giegengack, founder and principal at Hub and one of the study authors. “But it’s critical for services to remember that with great power comes great responsibility: the splintering of rights is making sports content harder to find. The backlash will come bigger and faster from sports fans than those looking for scripted TV.”
The new data from Hub Entertainment Research’s “Evolution of Sports” survey reveals that sports content is unique, and fans view it with a higher level of urgency than other kinds of content. In fact, almost three-quarters (72%) of avid fans say sports are more important to them than anything else they watch on TV.
The data also shows that fans will sign up for new subscriptions in order to watch a sport they follow.
Hub asked respondents to imagine that a streaming platform bought the rights to a sport they follow, and they had to subscribe to a new service to watch. It found that 87% of avid fans said they were at least somewhat likely to sign up, and two-thirds (66%) said they were very likely.
Among avid fans 35 and younger, that likelihood is even higher: 92% said they were at least somewhat likely to sign up, while nearly 75% were very likely to subscribe. In addition, 42% said they’ve signed up for a new service specifically to watch sports (up from 38% a year ago).
But fans are getting frustrated with the fragmentation of sports rights, which is forcing them to use multiple platforms to watch games. Two-thirds (65%) of sports fans say it’s a hassle to use several services to watch games during a season.
In addition, half (53%) say it’s become harder to find the sports they want to watch compared to a year ago. Two-thirds (63%) also say having games on separate apps makes it hard to check on other games that are on at the same time.
These findings are from Hub’s “2025 Evolution of Sports: What's the Score? Wave 4” report, based on a survey conducted among 3,802 US sports fans ages 13-74. Interviews were conducted in June-July 2025. A free excerpt of the findings is available on Hub’s website.
