US LIVE SPORTS VIEWERS ARE SHIFTING TO DIGITAL PLATFORMS

Despite the delays and suspensions of sporting events, digital live sports viewership will rise to more than 14% this year with the help of accelerated cord-cutting. According to Emarketer’s first forecast on digital sports viewers, 36.5 million people in the US will watch live sports digitally this year, including individuals of any age who watch live sports monthly during one of more sport’s season. The research firms experts live sports to resume later this year. “In recent years, TV networks and pay-TV providers have relied more on live sports as cord-cutting and audience erosion accelerate,” said Eric Haggstrom, Emarketer forecasting analyst at Insider Intelligence. “Live sports represent billions of dollars in advertising and affiliate fees for the networks. Advertisers are eagerly awaiting the likely return of live sports in the fall as it is one of the few ways to reach a large, younger audience at scale.”

Almost one in four, about 23.7% of US live sports viewers will watch via digital channels this year, but due to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) March Madness tournament cancelation, overall live sports viewership will decline by 0.2% this year. 

Almost half of the digital viewers will watch live sports through virtual multichannel video programming distributors (vMVPDs), including Sling TV, Hulu with Live TV, and YouTube TV in 2020. This year, it is projected that 17.1 million people will watch live TV on these platforms, up 13.3% from 2019. And 69.3% of internet-delivered pay-TV viewers will use vMVPDs to watch live sports.

ESPN+, one of the most viewed digital sports platform live sports, is expected to have 14.9 million viewers this year, representing 40.8% of digital live sports viewers in the US. The platform grew rapidly last year after offering its bundle with Disney+ and Hulu.