Global Sports Fans Prefer Smart Phones, Not Into in Cord-Cutting
While sports fans prefer to stream their video—often to a phone—they're not that interested in cutting the cord. Grabyo, a London-based company that provides social video tools to sports leagues, surveyed nearly 10,000 consumers in the U.S., U.K., France, Italy, Germany, Spain, and Australia and found smart phones are the devices used most often to stream video. Phones are used by 65% of fans, followed by laptops (53%), standard TVs (43%), and connected TVs and tablets (both with 38%). In the U.S., 69% stream video to a phone most often.
Sports fans are less willing to cut the cord than most viewers, no doubt because major broadcasters have rights secured for the most popular leagues. When asked if they would cut the cord, 42% said no, 40% said yes in 3 to 5 years, 13% said they will this year, and 5% already had.
Of those who don't want to cut the cord, the most popular reasons given is that they prefer watching on broadcast TV (34%) or they can't get all the content they want without pay TV (29%).
While pay TV is winning out, Grabyo sees thing starting to shift.
"Consumers are moving towards digital media more quickly than anticipated. Live sport is one of the remaining content genres that’s holding back cord-cutting, but it may not remain this way for much longer," the report concludes. "Linear TV broadcasters aim to compete with OTT and streaming by offering their content online via mobile apps and catch-up services. Many broadcasters now offer the option to watch live online, too. Streaming has become a baseline expectation for sports fans."
For more results, download the Grabyo Sports Video Trends Report 2019 for free (registration required).
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