NFL Game Pass Leads Market with 6% of all Sports OTT Video Service Subscriptions

Parks Associates announced new research today that reveals 16% of U.S. broadband households have a sports OTT video service subscription. Although it does not stream live games, NFL Game Pass is the most highly adopted service, with 6% of U.S. broadband households having a subscription compared to 4% for the WWE Network and MLB.TV.

“For sports content owners, OTT is a viable way to expand audience reach, but there are technical issues to consider,” said Glenn Hower, Research Analyst, Parks Associates. “The user experience is of paramount importance to the viewer for sports content. The lead established by the NFL speaks to popularity of football, and the league’s service has avoided a major hurdle since it does not stream live games.”

Subscriptions and Churn in OTT Video Services also indicates the crossover between pay TV and OTT is more prevalent among sports service subscribers than other OTT users. In most cases, the highest proportions of consumers indicate signing up for their sports services through a TV service provider, with 63% of NFL Game Pass users signing up through their pay-TV provider.

“Leagues lean heavily on television distribution partners for revenue, and disruption to existing distribution models may give television partners pause,” Hower said. “A rapid expansion in sports OTT growth requires either heavy external investment from a streaming distribution partner – like a Google or Apple – or a tiered business model that targets key consumers for all-access services.”

TBS recently joined the OTT world by revealing plans to launch its own eSports league. Turner Broadcasting has already signed a deal to broadcast live showdowns of Counter Strike: Global Offensive, which will air on Friday nights. Qualifying rounds for the main events will be streamed online, and advancing competitors will travel to TBS headquarters in Atlanta for a live recording.

Parks Associates will address OTT content and the transformation of pay TV with multiple sessions and speakers at the upcoming 20^th-annual CONNECTIONS™: The Premier Digital Home Conference, May 24-26, at the Hyatt San Francisco Airport.

“Disruption in Interfaces: Evolving Cloud Services and Content Access,” Tuesday, May 24, 1:15 p.m., moderated by Glenn Hower, Research Analyst, Parks Associates, features the following speakers:

• Jonathan Beavon, Director Strategy, Video Software & Solutions, Cisco Systems, Inc.
• Chris Drake, Vice President, Business Development, thePlatform
• John Driver, CEO, Lynx Technologies
• David Mowrey, VP of Product Management, Clearleap
• Scott Williams, EVP Americas, Piksel

“OTT and the Transformation of Pay TV,” Wednesday, May 25, 9 a.m., moderated by Brett Sappington, Senior Research Director, Parks Associates, features the following speakers:

• Andy Chambers, VP, Connected Home, Assurant Solutions
• Mike Fisher, Vice President, Product Strategy & Business Development, BrightLine
• Michael Hawkey, SVP & General Manager – Discovery Business Group, Rovi
• Arlen Marmel, VP of Marketing and Distribution, Ellation
• Elisabetta Romano, Vice President and Head of TV & Media, Ericsson

“The skills of creating and aggregating content, building a brand, and engaging an audience are fundamentally different from the skills required to build and maintain product and technology that delivers said content to audiences,” said Arlen Marmel, VP of Marketing and Distribution, Ellation. “The marketing capabilities required to build brands are also fundamentally different from those required to engage and retain subscribers.”

 “Risky Business: Piracy and Protecting Content in an OTT World,” Wednesday, May 25, 11 a.m., moderated by Glenn Hower, Research Analyst, Parks Associates, features the following speakers:

• Shane Keats, Director of Industry Marketing, Media and Entertainment, Akamai Technologies
• Paul Moroney, SVP Advanced Technology, ARRIS
• Petr Peterka, Chief Technology Officer, Verimatrix
• Mitch Singer, President, Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem
• Robin Wilson, VP Business Development, NAGRA

“ARRIS has a long history of leadership in securing content across delivery methods and devices,” said Paul Moroney, SVP Advanced Technology, ARRIS. “As technologies evolve, it remains a complex tradeoff between technology, social engineering, and cost. OTT delivery and modern streaming technologies bring additional challenges and present rich areas for innovation.”

“Sporting events present highly attractive targets for pirates. Because the value decays very rapidly as the game takes place, the window of opportunity for countermeasures is very short,” said Petr Peterka, CTO of Verimatrix. “To address this growing threat, sport content owners and operators are considering extending their security solutions to incorporate real-time detection and enforcement of content theft without compromising the viewer experience. I look forward to further discussing this topic and the broader OTT landscape during CONNECTIONS™.”

“As piracy moves away from broadcast and more into the world of content sharing, even the new OTT players are not immune to its potential damages,” said Robin Wilson, VP Business Development, NAGRA. “It is therefore critical to actively manage the problem while giving consumers great alternatives for superior user experiences.”

Event sponsors include Reception Sponsors CEL and Zonoff; Session Sponsors Icontrol Networks and PlumChoice; Lunch Sponsors Coldwell Banker and NXP; Silver Sponsors Alarm.com, Assurant, Asurion, Centercode, ROC-Connect, Support.com, ULE Alliance, WiZR, ZigBee Alliance; Bronze Sponsors Audio Analytic Ltd, Ayla Networks, Cirrent, EVRYTHNG, Flextronics, Honeywell, HP, iQor, mnubo, People Power, PlanetEcosystems, WeatherBug Home, and Z-Wave; Program Guide Sponsor Vivint; Breakfast Sponsors Greenwave Systems and leakSMART; and Break Sponsors Home8, Home Advisor, Nortek Security & Control, and Tyco.

To schedule an interview with an analyst or request specific research, contact Holly Sprague at [email protected], 720.987.6614.

About CONNECTIONS™

Parks Associates' 27th annual CONNECTIONS™: The Premier Connected Home Conference features an in-person conference on May 23-25, 2023 and multiple virtual sessions hosted throughout 2023. The event focuses on the adoption of technology including smart home, security, connected health, energy, and home automation.

Bringing together more than 1,500 senior executives, CONNECTIONS™ provides networking opportunities combined with visionary keynotes and virtual sessions. The Parks Associates analyst team leads all conference sessions, which are focused on technology innovations, consumer adoption and trends, product and service forecasts, and the evaluation of new business strategies, partnerships, monetization opportunities, and value-added service design.

Throughout the event, sponsors offer demos during networking events, spotlighting new technology innovations and services for the entertainment, mobile, and smart home market segments.

CONNECTIONS™ 2023 features an in-person conference on May 23-25, 2023, with virtual sessions on March 2, July 20, and October 5. For more information, contact [email protected], call 972-490-1113, visit www.connectionsconference.com.

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