Analysis by Gracenote, the content intelligence business unit of Nielsen, has shown that sports have quickly become a foundational part of the subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) content mix and now make up 5% of overall programming on leading services.
In November 2024, sports made up just 1.4% of the Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, Disney+, Netflix, and Paramount+ catalogues, according to the inaugural Gracenote Data Hub analysis. In the past 18 months, these five providers have more than doubled that distribution to 3.3%.
With HBO Max now included in Gracenote’s analysis, sports have risen to 5% of all content. There are now nearly 38,500 sports shows, episodes, sports games, and events on the leading global SVOD services.
HBO Max currently offers the most sports content among major global streamers tracked by the Gracenote Data Hub, accounting for 35% of sports available. At the individual game and event level, HBO Max offers 42% of sports content.
Another key finding from the latest update is that the number of FAST channels has increased by 19% year-over-year. Entertainment, sports, news, and reality are the most dominant channel genres, with news channels exhibiting the most growth (57%) year-over-year.
At the same time, FAST serves as a significant distribution channel for live sports from all over the world. More than one-third of the content on sports channels on FAST (37%) is live sports events.
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