Skip to Content
Newsletter Facebook Twitter YouTube

Analyst Predicts Return of Live Sports Will Attract Record TV Viewers, Including Cord-Nevers

Stephanie Sengwe
Stephanie Sengwe is writer based in New York who covers companies in the streaming industry including AT&T, Amazon, Apple, Hulu, Roku, and Netflix . She also contributes daily news coverage on streaming services and devices for The Streamable.
Read full bio ›
Stephanie Sengwe

The phrase “you don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone” is getting some new merit. With the coronavirus shutting down all major sporting events back in March, analysts expect a huge response when they fully return later this summer.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, industry analyst Lisa Martin predicts that not only are sports coming back full throttle, but they’re also returning with new fans. Cord-nevers — the demographic of young viewers who have never before subscribed to pay-TV services — are expected to finally turn to cable for their live sports fix.

“We believe that the return of seven pro sports in July and August plus the NFL in September suggests higher linear TV sub adds in the second half, including by cord-nevers, and higher subscriber churn for streaming services,” Martin wrote. “Disney, Fox and ViacomCBS are the companies in our coverage universe that have the most upside from the return of live sports.”

With people flocking to live sports, a lot of churn is expected to happen for streamers that don’t offer live-event coverage. “Streaming services like Netflix, Disney+, [Apple+], etc. that benefited from live sports being dark have the most risk to their U.S. reported sub adds during the second half, because viewing time will move to sports, which may lower their perceived price/value ratio to consumers,” Martin noted.

“A majority of sports fans we surveyed don’t consider films or television series as substitutes to pro sports competitions, so sports programming is the cornerstone of the $150 billion revenue per year traditional U.S. pay-TV bundle. Emotionally, sports represents a large shared-interest community with the authenticity and unpredictability of live events, enhanced by a clear winner and loser at the end of play.”

Martin’s analysis is consistent with the results from an ESPN Research & Insights study conducted back in May. The study found that found that fans were open to the prospect of watching live games without spectators.

According to the study, not only were fans planning on consuming more sports-related content once games resumed again, but 65 percent said they were open to watching basketball, hockey or baseball games with empty stadiums. Only 35 percent said they believe sports should resume when fans can attend games in person.

Photo credit: Sung Shin on Unsplash

Stephanie Sengwe
Stephanie Sengwe is writer based in New York who covers companies in the streaming industry including AT&T, Amazon, Apple, Hulu, Roku, and Netflix . She also contributes daily news coverage on streaming services and devices for The Streamable.
Read full bio ›
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Reddit

DIRECTV STREAM Cash Back

Let us know your e-mail address to send your $50 Amazon Gift Card when you sign up for DIRECTV STREAM.

You will receive it ~2 weeks after you complete your first month of service.

Offer Terms

  • Only valid for new DIRECTV STREAM subscribers.
  • Only valid once per household.
  • You must pay and maintain service for at least one month to be eligible.
  • Purchase must be completed on the DIRECTV STREAM website.
  • You’ll receive gift card 4-6 weeks after purchase (~2 weeks after your first month).
  • Cannot be combined with any other promotion and won’t be eligible if you try to use a coupon code or cash back from another site.

Sling TV Cash Back

Let us know your e-mail address to send your $25 Uber Eats Gift Card when you sign up for Sling TV.

You will receive it ~2 weeks after you complete your first month of service.

Offer Terms

  • Only valid for new Sling TV subscribers to Sling Orange, Blue, or Sling Orange + Blue.
  • Only valid once per household.
  • You must pay and maintain service for at least one month to be eligible.
  • You must click from The Streamable and complete your purchase on the Sling TV website.
  • You’ll receive gift card 4-6 weeks after purchase (~2 weeks after your first month).
  • Cannot be combined with any other promotion and won’t be eligible if you try to use a coupon code or cash back from another site.

Hulu Live TV Cash Back

Let us know your e-mail address to send your $35 Amazon Gift Card when you sign up for Hulu Live TV.

You will receive it ~2 weeks after you complete your first month of service.

Offer Terms

  • Only valid for new Hulu Live TV subscribers.
  • Only valid once per household.
  • You must pay and maintain service for at least one month to be eligible.
  • You must click from The Streamable and complete your purchase on the Hulu Live TV website.
  • You’ll receive gift card 4-6 weeks after purchase (~2 weeks after your first month).
  • Cannot be combined with any other promotion and won’t be eligible if you try to use a coupon code or cash back from another site.