With this summer's strikes hurting the flow of new content into TV and streaming platforms, live sports have become an even more important programming staple, with 70% of Americans saying they watch live sports, according to a new survey from Reviews.org.
The survey also ranked the importance of the various sporting leagues, with the NFL, not surprisingly ranking as the #1 most-watched live sport, with 65% of live sports fans watching it regularly, followed by the NBA (#2) at 50%, and MLB (#3) at 42% viewership.
Other sports in the top ten include college football (#4) and basketball (#5), NASCAR (#6), NHL Hockey (#7), Formula 1 Racing (#8), UFC (#9), and Bellator Mixed Martial Arts (Bellator MMA) (#10), according to Reviews.org.
The survey also found that tuning in via cable and satellite is still the most popular way to watch, with 35% of live sports fans subscribing to cable or satellite providers for their favorite sports. But Americans are increasingly accessing live sports via streaming platforms, with 28% of Americans using streaming services to watch live sports. Amazon Prime Video is the most popular streaming service for live sports, with 51% of live sports fans using it, Reviews.org reported.
Usage of streaming services also varies by age according to Reviews.org. More than half (52%) of Millennials use on-demand streaming services to watch live sports, compared to only 12% of Boomers. Alternatively, 60% of Boomers use satellite or TV to watch live sports, compared to only 35% of Millennials.
90% of sports fans know where they can watch local sports teams in their area, but only 40% know what a regional sports network is.
The Reviews.org survey found that the most popular regional sports networks (RSNs) include: Fox Sports Regional Networks (25% subscribe), NBC Sports (22% subscribe, now operating as Bally Sports), Bally Sports ( 8.80%), AT&T SportsNet (9.24%), and Spectrum SportsNet (Los Angeles Lakers channel, 7.65% subscribe). About 50% of Americans did not have a RSN locally available or did not subscribe to one.
The survey also found that 55% are willing to pay extra for channels to watch local sports teams in their area.
