The attack of streaming services on sport

For years, Netflix has vehemently denied the question of live sports. But now the time has come: the market leader among streaming providers is showing real sporting events for the first time. After documentaries and self-imagined tennis, golf and boxing events, the market leader will broadcast two NFL games on Christmas Day – worldwide and exclusively.

This isn’t necessarily a good sign for sports lovers. The TV sports market continues to fray. Fans of live broadcasts are increasingly having trouble keeping track. And they need more and more subscriptions. According to media experts, this trend will continue to grow, especially in top international sports.

It’s confusing

The former DFL boss and Dyn founder Christian Seifert emphasized: “It is global brands that buy global rights.” The experienced rights specialist recently said at the “Sport Marke Medien” congress about the two globally exclusive Christmas games on Netflix. in Munich: “This is a test.”

In March, Netflix manager Gabe Spitzer practically ruled out buying NFL rights. “We are still not part of the live sports rights game – we are focused on creating great dramas with great stories,” he told the Süddeutsche Zeitung. However, with the football broadcasts, Netflix is ​​another player in the market.

There are already a number of established pay-TV sports offerings in this country with Sky, DAZN, MagentaSport and Dyn. There are also niche providers such as Sportdeutschland.TV or Sportdigital, which also require a fee. So it’s already confusing.

Behind the pay barrier there is also football on RTL+ or on Amazon Prime Video, the sports pioneer among streaming providers. In Germany, the retail giant’s TV offering already shows Champions League football and the tennis tournament in Wimbledon.

Eye-catching ten-year contract

The next big streaming provider with sports was Apple. The most valuable company in the world bought the global rights of the American soccer league MLS for its Apple TV+ with a sensational ten-year contract for $2.5 billion.

“Big, powerful players are coming,” said former Sky boss Carsten Schmidt about the future of the sports rights competition. Their “capital situation is much better” than that of the established competition, explained Fabian Stechel from the CAA agency, which advises major leagues and TV providers.

“Incredible flop rate”

For Seifert, the advantage of sport for streaming providers is obvious. There is “an incredible flop rate” for new films and series of up to 90 percent, said the Dyn boss. On the other hand, the following applies: “The reliability of major sporting events is enormous.” The high number of spectators can be easily predicted.

According to Netflix, around 60 million households worldwide tuned in to the show fight between former boxing world champion Mike Tyson and Jake Paul in mid-November. The transmission problems were less pleasant and more embarrassing for the streaming giant. Things should go better at the NFL games at Christmas.

After the Netflix-NFL deal, media expert Lisa Jäger from the strategy consultancy Simon-Kucher expects further sports commitments. “There is quite a scramble for market share and subscribers in the streaming market at the moment,” she said. “That’s why the big question is: What can providers actually do to keep their subscribers?” Jäger is sure “that we are too “We’ll see some exciting developments next year.”

$76 billion contract

According to the media expert, market research has shown: “The wide selection of content is, beyond price, the most important criterion” for streaming customers. Therefore, “sports content, i.e. exclusive content that is not available elsewhere, would fit in wonderfully. Ideally, these are not just any niche sports, but rather content that is aimed at the broadest possible target group.”

Amazon’s NBA deal also fits this thesis. Together with Disney and NBCUniversal, the retail giant has secured the TV rights to the North American professional basketball league for the eleven seasons from 2025/26 to 2035/36. According to consistent media reports, the entire package costs a total of 76 billion dollars (around 70 billion euros). Basketball fans will ultimately raise a significant portion of this sum through subscriptions.