The coronavirus lockdown has accelerated the turn to online streaming
A study from cloud video platform Grabyo has found that 59% of UK sports fans would be willing to switch to exclusively streaming their sport.
The UK At Home Video Trends 2020 report surveyed over 2,000 UK consumers on their video consumption and purchasing habits, after a previous survey in January of this year.
The report found that since the beginning of the year, subscriptions to online streaming have increased in every age group – notably growing over 20% for the over-50s. Meanwhile, TV subscriptions have decreased by 9% in the same time across all age groups.
Importantly for the sport industry, 59% of UK sports fans are now willing to watch exclusively through online streaming platforms, with 63% of those fans open to paying over £10 a month to pay for streaming services that have live and on demand sport.
In addition, a similar number of fans now watch sport on pay-TV, 68%, as do on social media, 66%. Also, 77% of supporters watch regularly on online streaming platforms, giving them a higher penetration than traditional pay-TV.
Overall, it appears that the coronavirus lockdown has accelerated trends that were growing in the years beforehand – as it has in many areas of society.
Gareth Capon, CEO of Grabyo, said: “Sports fans of all ages have been convinced by the value of streaming. Companies like BT Sport are already moving towards this model that combines the flexibility of streaming with the quality the audience demands.”
“Our report shows this shift will be well received by fans. Sports broadcasters need to offer a broader proposition to capture younger consumers and with the rapid growth in streaming services in older consumer segments, the risk to losing audience share is greater than it ever has been.”