Live Football Games Delivered Nearly 10% of All Streaming Service Ads in Q3, Demonstrating Value of Football Rights
People are flocking to streaming services to watch football, according to a new report from iSpot.tv
The NFL’s status as a ratings juggernaut is in no danger of changing any time soon. The return of professional and college football to airwaves caused a surge in ratings for broadcast and cable TV in the month of September,
- NFL games delivered 9% of Q3 TV ad impressions for streaming services (No. 1 among all programs).
- Paramount+ accounted for 16.42% of all streaming service promo ads.
- The NFL is still one of the top TV commodities, making it crucial for ESPN to have a strong NFL presence when it launches its new streaming platform.
Football Streaming Delivers for Advertisers
A new report from iSpot indicates that many streaming services which advertise their product during NFL games are closely involved in NFL streaming themselves. The report indicates that 9% of all streaming service ad impressions were delivered during NFL football games, while 3.2% of such impressions were served to viewers during college football games.
Eight of the top 10 streaming services that advertise on TV are owned by companies that offer NFL games, as well. For example, Disney+ and Hulu —which are second and third on iSpot’s ad impressions ranking —don’t regularly show live NFL games themselves, but they are owned by Disney, which offers live “Monday Night Football” games on ESPN and ESPN+.
Peacock and Prime Video are also high on the list of services whose ads are seen regularly on TV, and both services carry a package of NFL games every week. YouTube TV, which is currently in its first season as the host of NFL Sunday Ticket jumped 31 spots to seventh on the list of streaming platforms delivering ad impressions on linear television during the third quarter, a sign that YouTube is willing to pull out all the stops to ensure fans know the change has been made.
A Centerpiece for ESPN Streaming?
The data shows that football is a powerful advertising vehicle for streaming services, and that streaming services who carry football on their platforms know it’s an important tool for attracting viewers. This means that as Disney sifts through its assets to determine which will stay and which will go in its new streaming-forward era, it must ensure that it keeps the rights to “Monday Night Football,” especially considering its plans for ESPN.
Disney wants to launch a direct-to-consumer (DTC) version of ESPN and its cohort channels by 2025 at the latest. Recent reports indicate that the league has held talks with Disney about expanding its presence on the new ESPN streamer, namely that it might sell the rights to games currently available on NFL+ to the company for placement on the service.
If Disney did acquire NFL+’s content, that would allow users to watch every in-market NFL game available on TV on their mobile phones and tablets, as well as all nationally televised contests. Finding a way to allow fans to watch those games on smart TVs as well would have to be considered a huge win for a company that desperately needs a victory right now.
The question of what exactly will be on the new ESPN streaming platform will have to wait until closer to the service’s launch. But iSpot’s data makes it clear that football is a great way for streamers to advertise their product, deepening the links between streaming and football and demonstrating that companies must step up their ad buys during football season, especially if they offer live football on a streaming platform or linear channel.
A previous version of this article incorrectly interpreted iSpot’s data to suggest that streaming services themselves were delivering the ads measured during live football games.
Paramount Plus
Paramount+ is a subscription video streaming service that includes on-demand access to 40,000+ TV show episodes from BET, CBS, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, Nick Jr. and more. The lineup includes “1883,” “Tulsa King,” “Star Trek: Discovery,” Nickelodeon’s “SpongeBob SquarePants,” and “PAW Patrol.” Subscribers can watch the NFL, college football, The Masters, college basketball, UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa, Serie A, and NWSL. The service also offers the option to watch your live CBS affiliate. The upgraded ad-free package includes premium movies and shows from Showtime.