NEW YORK—Fueled by the ongoing importance of sports programming on TV and streaming services, the annual sports report from S&P Global Market Intelligence estimates that U.S. TV and streaming sports media rights payments will likely total $25.57 billion in 2023 across broadcast, cable, RSNs and streaming services.
That represents a significant rise from an estimated $14.64 billion in 2015 and is expected to grow to more than $30 billion in 2025 as new deals are forged.
The increases have occurred despite viewership declines, a contracting subscriber base in the traditional cable bundle and a growing list of alternative pay TV services that appeal to cost-conscious consumers, the researchers said.
The forecast also shows that sports rights rose faster in even years than odd years due to spending on the Summer and Winter Olympics, with 2021 being an outlier as the 2020 Summer Olympics were held in 2021.
The report also contained data from Kagan's U.S. Consumer Insights survey, conducted in September 2022, of 2,528 adults who use the internet showing the important role that live sports plays for the American consumer. Over half of US internet households surveyed (55%) said they typically watch football, and about one-third of households tune into basketball (34%) and baseball games (33%). While not as popular, a host of other sports — including motorsports, golf, soccer and tennis — reach a healthy slice of US households.
More information on the report “From the Stadium to the Screen: Examining the Impact of Streaming on Sports Media and Consumption” by S&P Global Market Intelligence is available here.
