What Live Sports Does Every Premium Subscription Streaming Service Have? What Are Sports Futures of Apple, Max, Netflix, Peacock, More?
The transition of live sports from their traditional home on linear broadcasting channels to streaming services seems inevitable. All of the top cable sports channels are losing viewers, and in the age of cord cutting it’s hard to see how sports alone will save pay TV from its fate.
But not every streaming service has embraced live sports yet. Sports streaming rights can be expensive, and the biggest leagues sell their product to as many different outlets as possible. For streamers who prize exclusivity of content and are attempting to make their services profitable, these problems can preclude even the thought of investing in live sports.
Other platforms seem to be taking a more “wait-and-see” approach to sports, biding their time until markets dictate a shift in strategy. They all seem to be forging their own path, and each has seen varying degrees of success from their business plans so far.
What Sports Does Apple TV+ Have Currently?
There’s only one sporting event users can find on Apple TV+ as of now: “Friday Night Baseball,” which offers subscribers a weekly doubleheader every Friday evening. Apple has reportedly looked into bidding on English Premiere League rights in the United Kingdom, as well as NBA games when that league’s broadcasting rights go up for sale after the 2024-25 season. The company has also checked in on the Pac-12 in that conference’s continuing search for its next partner.
Apple launched a new streaming platform this year to host Major League Soccer games. MLS Season Pass will serve as the streaming home of every MLS contest for the next decade, but it’s important to note that this is a distinct streaming service and not a part of Apple TV+.
What Sports Does Disney+ Have Currently?
Disney+ is far better known for its entertainment offerings than its sports lineup, but even this service is getting in on live sports. It offered an animated alternate broadcast of an NHL game in March, using characters from its popular kids series “Big City Greens” and aminated analogs of real players to try and encourage younger viewers to give live sports a try.
What Sports Does ESPN+ Have Currently?
ESPN+ now sits at 25.3 million subscribers, and it offered more than 27,000 live sporting events in 2022. The service will get another exclusive international NFL game in 2023, after last year’s London game between the Jacksonville Jaguars and Denver Broncos became the most-watched live event in the platform’s history.
ESPN+ offers games from the MLB, NBA, NHL, college sports featuring men’s and women’s teams, and an array of niche sports too wide to enumerate. The future of the service may be in some doubt, however, as Disney has reportedly begun the process of launching a streaming-only version of the full ESPN family of channels. If that happens, ESPN+ will likely be folded into the larger platform that will emerge.
What Sports Does Hulu Have Currently?
Like Disney+, Hulu profiles more as an entertainment streaming service than a sports platform. But Hulu is the home of next-day streams of WWE shows like “Monday Night Raw” and “Friday Night Smackdown,” in a deal that will continue at least through the end of this year. Disney is reportedly exploring the possibility of picking up the broadcasting rights to those two shows, which would mean their position on Hulu would be secure for years to come.
Hulu + Live TV carries a much wider array of live sports via channels like ESPN, TNT, FS1, and more. Hulu + Live TV also features free access to the Disney Bundle, so users get access to all of the sports on ESPN+ just by signing up.
What Sports Does Max Have Currently?
For now, Max’s live sports offerings are fairly limited. The only games you’ll see on Max for the present are contests from the Men's and Women's U.S. National Soccer teams. Those will be split between Max and Warner Bros. Discovery’s cable channels TNT and TBS for the rest of 2023.
But the potential for more live sports on Max is there, and company executives know it. Figures like CEO David Zaslav and streaming head J.B. Perrette have implied several times that Max will get access to more live sports in the future. WBD holds the rights to exclusive packages of NBA, NHL, and MLB games domestically, and will spilt broadcasting duties of the NCAA Men’s Basketball tournament with CBS/Paramount until 2032.
The company’s relationship with the NBA is important, despite the fact that Zaslav was quoted as saying WBD doesn’t “have to have” NBA games in the future. When that league’s broadcasting deals expire after 2024-25, WBD could seek a parcel of games that would appear exclusively on Max if it chose.
What Live Sports Does Netflix Have Currently?
For a long time, Netflix executives were dead-set against the addition of any live sports to the service. But seasons change and so do opinions, and this week it was reported Netflix is attempting to put together its own live golf tournament featuring top names from its sports docuseries “Formula 1: Drive to Survive” and “Full Swing.”
In terms of live sports, that’s all Netflix has on tap for the moment. But its position as the world’s largest streamer and most recognizable streaming brand mean that it can pursue just about any sports rights it wants to when they become available. If its proposed live golf tournament goes well this fall, Netflix could be in a position to make much bigger sporting swings.
What Live Sports Does Paramount+ Have Currently?
When Paramount+ decided to put livestreams of local CBS stations on its Premium tier, it was seen as a very bold step. The inclusion meant that Paramount+ would carry every sporting event that appeared on CBS, from PGA Tour golf to NFL football. Other CBS sports that are simulcast on Paramount+ include college football and basketball, rodeo and bull riding, and a wide array of soccer games from UEFA to CONCACAF to Serie A.
Paramount+ Premium is set to become Paramount+ with Showtime on June 27, but this won’t mean a big influx of more live sports to the platform. SHOWTIME offers some boxing matches, but they are all pay-per-view events.
What Live Sports Does Peacock Have Currently?
Peacock offers perhaps the most live sports of any subscription video streaming service. That’s even more impressive considering its status as one of the cheapest services on the market, and a big reason why it may see a price increase in the near future.
Peacock recently scored a double triumph, landing an exclusive regular season NFL game plus a Wildcard playoff game that fans won’t be able to see anywhere else in 2023. The service will also get exclusive Big Ten football games this year, and its “MLB Sunday Leadoff” is once again showing the first baseball game of the day every Sunday this summer.
The service also carries Notre Dame football, English Premier League Soccer, PGA Golf events, IndyCar racing, cycling, Grand Slam tennis tournaments, WWE events, Spanish-language World Cup broadcasts, and even niche sports. Plus, next summer the service will stream every single event of the 2024 Olympics from Paris.
What Live Sports Does Prime Video Have Currently?
The NFL rules the live sports landscape at Prime Video. Last season was the first in a 10-year deal between the NFL and Amazon that will keep Prime Video as the exclusive national home of “Thursday Night Football” broadcasts until the end of the 2032-33 season. This year, the league will play its first-ever game on Black Friday, and Prime Video will offer it free to subscribers and non-subscribers alike.
The service is also home to Seattle Storm games in the team’s local market, and will stream more than 20 WNBA games, including the Commissioner's Cup Championship game this season. In November, Amazon launched “Sports Talk,” a 12-hour daily block of sports programming to talk about the latest goings-on in the sports world. The company was reportedly working on its own sports streaming app in December of 2022, though there has been no word on that project recently.
Amazon reportedly has interest in pursuing the NBA’s rights when they come available next. Prime Video does not stream NBA games in the United States, though it streamed dozens of that league's contests in Brazil during the 2022-23 season.