LONDON—Sports rights for televising NFL games remain by far the most costly of all U.S. sports rights, accounting for 44% of the entire sports broadcast rights spend in the U.S. Despite those costs, however, a new study by Ampere Analysis suggests they are certainly worth the cost for streaming services offering pay TV bundles and that the popularity of NFL football continues to play a key role in attracting new subs.
A new report from Ampere Analysis looking at the impact NFL has on customer acquisition found that during the NFL season, starting in September and continuing through February, there is a 77% boost to customer sign-up for Virtual Multichannel Video Programming Distributors (vMPVDs) carrying channels with NFL rights.
But if NFL rights remain the glue that is holding together the pay TV bundle, the study also found that the increasing number of NFL games being packaged as streaming exclusives is a threat to vMPVD services like Fubo and YouTube TV. As there becomes fewer games available on linear channels meaning, the vMPVDs will need to consider aggregating streaming services alongside traditional channels.
The study also found that during March to August (off-season) vMPVD services collectively received an average of 29,000 sign-ups per day since 2020. This increased 77% to 51,000 during the on-season (September-February), highlighting the impact of the NFL.
Over the same period, streaming services without NFL games rose by just 2.5% during NFL seasons. The largest sign-up event for vMPVD services collectively was the 2023 Super Bowl on Fox, garnering 410,000 subscriptions in one day
Ben McMurray, research manager at Ampere Analysis explained that as "the most popular sporting event in the US, the NFL can be a powerful subscription driver for companies acquiring broadcast rights. It also has the power to drive significant viewership on free-to-air channels and inflate the overall TV market during the NFL season - and deflate it when the season ends. The biggest potential threat to vMPVD services in the future is the sale of games and packages as exclusives to streaming services. vMPVDs can thrive even without direct investment in the NFL, acting in a mutually beneficial way with broadcasters by extending the advertising reach of games. However, if the shift to streaming exclusives continues, vMPVD services will have to either invest directly in rights or provide access to streaming services as an aggregator to continue attracting subscribers.”
Other key findings include:
- Starting in September and ending with the Super Bowl in February, the NFL is the most popular event in US. It claims 44% of the entire sports broadcast rights spend in the country. 44% of sports fans in the US say they enjoy the NFL, 43% of which say that it is their favourite competition
- For vMPVDs, and many other platforms carrying NFL games, the sign-up rate is consistently high throughout the season. The biggest sign-up drivers are the start of the season - for those who want to watch it in its entirety - and the Super Bowl - for those who want to see the competition’s biggest game
- Many NFL games are available on free-to-air channels including NBC, CBS, ABC, and Fox. These channels are carried by VPMVDs as well as many of the premium channels
- vMPVDs are emerging in the US as consumers ditch cable. U.S. Pay TV penetration fell from a high of 84% in 2009 to 42% by the end of 2023
- Companies directly acquiring rights also use the NFL as a tool for generating sign-ups to their streaming platforms. Peacock’s exclusive playoff game generated just over 2 million subscriptions in one weekend. Paramount+ generated around 2.4 million sign-ups on the day of the 2023 Super Bowl.
