Over the past years, the availability of sports content on streaming platforms has significantly increased. As a result, consumers have grown accustomed to having more options to enjoy sports competitions and no longer rely solely on linear TV. However, sports consumption varies significantly across the world. In its latest report, BB Media analyzed which differences can be found in each region.
According to BB Media, the region with the highest viewing of live sports content is APAC, where 49% of users who claimed to consume online content use the platforms to watch sports competitions. Live sports content ranks second in the region, just behind news content, not including movies and series.
On the other hand, sports viewing is lower in the UCAN and EMEA regions: in EMEA, 30% of online consumers watch sports events, while in UCAN, 28% of users do the same. In these two regions, excluding movies and series, documentaries, mini-series, and news content are more frequently consumed than live sports.
Furthermore, certain regional differences can be observed regarding the sports that users choose to watch. In EMEA, football is by far the most watched sport. Among users who claimed to regularly consume sports events in this region, 78% stated they watch football matches. Tennis (36%) and basketball (25%) follow at a significant margin.
On the other hand, in UCAN, the most consumed sport among users watching sports content is American football, with 68% of online consumers, followed by basketball (57%). Lastly, for APAC, football is also the most consumed sport with 58% of consumers. It is followed by basketball (50%), and in third place, a regional sport: badminton (41%). Additionally, in APAC, there are higher rates of consumption for regional sports such as table tennis and cricket.
The trend of consuming live sports aligns with the preferences for live-streaming in the analyzed regions. BB Media’s data reveals that APAC is the region with the highest consumption of live content. In this region, 79% of online platform consumers watch linear content, while in UCAN and EMEA, that percentage is 63% and 61%, respectively. On the other hand, among the total consumers of live content, in APAC, 28% solely consume live-streaming for sports events or special occasions, whereas in UCAN and EMEA, the percentage is 29% and 34%, respectively.
“It can be deduced that in the APAC region, the higher consumption of live sports is correlated with a greater tendency towards live-streaming. It is observed that the preference for this type of content in this region is larger compared to UCAN and EMEA, which show a greater favoritism for on-demand content,” said Facundo Engel, Media Analyst at BB Media and the author of the report.
Related News
