There is strong demand for more coverage of women’s sport among sports fans. This is split far more by age than gender, with 75% of Gen Z wanting expanded coverage. This has likely been inspired by free-to-air coverage of the England Women’s team winning the Euros in 2022 and reaching the World Cup final in 2023. Now, Sky is expanding its women’s football content, WSL matches have found an audience on YouTube, and Disney+ and Netflix have made moves to add coverage.
The main threat comes from reduced exposure to major competitions locked behind paywalls. The UEFA Champions League, the biggest club competition in European football, is primarily broadcast on TNT Sports. With most finding it too expensive to access all platforms, more are relying on highlights and clips online. This could in turn, see younger fans migrate towards free-to-air sports, or new sports and formats on streaming services.
With strong engagement in sport across media among younger Brits, there is opportunity for innovation. Particularly with these demographics focused on streaming, gaming and social media, there is scope for one-off sporting events, new tournaments, celebrity or influencer sports, or entirely new sports altogether.
This report looks at the following areas:
- Engagement with different forms of sports media, including live viewing, highlights and short clips, podcasts and print publications.
- The most common paid-for sports media after TV and streaming, with games leading the way, followed by app and website subscriptions.
- Most popular sports people engage with through media, with football dominating and a major age split among many other sports.
- The main platforms used for live sports broadcasts and highlights, with free-to-air channels still playing a key role and Sky the most commonly used of the paid services.
- Consumer attitudes towards sports media, including how consumers are finding it too expensive to access all the content they desire. Most sports fans are also keen for more women’s sport content, with streaming companies making moves to expand coverage.
The cost of sports rights has seen viewing fragment across platforms, but there remains strong opportunity for expanded coverage of women’s sports and new formats.
Adrian Reynolds, Associate Director
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
- Opportunities for the sports media market
- Shoot towards thematic aggregation
- Engage younger sports fans by boosting coverage of women’s sports
- AI can add personalisation to sports highlights
- Maximise outlets for expensive sporting rights
- Market dynamics
- Sky Sports covers the most sport in pay-TV but streamers are providing strong competition
- Sports media has increasingly fragmented with the shift away from live TV
- Graph 1: average daily viewing minutes of broadcast TV, 2016-23
- Strong sports engagement from Gen Z brings multi-media opportunities
- Graph 2: Gen Z participation in playing and watching sport, 2025
- Streaming platforms are making moves in sport
- What consumers want and why
- The most followed sports continue to have free-to-air broadcasts
- Graph 3: sports followed, 2025
- Sport is a key part of British culture, with live broadcasts the most popular media
- Graph 4: sports media activities in the last 12 months, 2025
- There are opportunities to engage younger sports fans, with Gen Z the most likely demographic to pay for additional sports media
- Graph 5: sports media paid for in the last 12 months, 2025
- Free-to-air channels still play a key role in both live coverage and highlights
- Graph 6: platforms used to watch sports highlights in the last 12 months, 2025
- Graph 7: platforms used to watch live sports broadcasts in the last 12 months, 2025
- The appetite for additional coverage of women’s sport is more about age than gender
- Sports fans are struggling with the expense of accessing all the coverage they desire
- Graph 8: attitudes towards sports media, 2025
- Innovation and marketing
- Sky continues to innovate while streaming platforms are evolving their sports strategies
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MARKET DYNAMICS
- Sports broadcasting market background
- The Premier League has the most expensive broadcast rights in Europe, and competition for sports rights is growing
- Sky Sports covers the most sport in pay-TV but streamers are providing strong competition
- Increasingly fragmented sports media has left many unable to afford the necessary platforms
- Sports bring in some of the UK largest live TV audiences
- Market drivers
- The economic environment could see some limiting their spending on sports media
- Strong competition for consumer attention in the broader media environment
- Graph 9: free media activities, 2025
- Graph 10: paid media subscriptions, 2025
- The shift away from live TV has seen sports media increasingly fragment
- Graph 11: average daily viewing minutes of broadcast TV, 2016-23
- The evolution of sports media has been supported by improved connectivity and network investment
- Gen Z are engaged with sports and offer opportunity for engagement across media
- Graph 12: Gen Z participation in playing and watching sport, 2025
- The rise of cheaper ad-supported streaming plans will ensure young audiences deem it value for money
- Sports media is thriving on social media
- The major streamers are making moves in sport
- Streamers can find new audiences and capture the imagination with one-off events
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WHAT CONSUMERS WANT AND WHY
- Most popular sports
- Football has a strong lead in sports media
- The most popular sports continue to have free-to-air broadcasts
- Graph 13: sports followed, 2025
- Rugby Union must look to capture the imagination of young sports fans
- Graph 14: proportion of sports fans who follow Rugby Union, by generation, 2025
- Young female sports are engaging with new sports on streaming platforms and social media
- American Football achieving swift growth among younger fans from a surprising source
- Most fans engage with multiple sports
- Graph 15: repertoire of sports followed, 2025
- Use of sports media
- Brits are extremely engaged with sports media, with live broadcasts leading the way
- Graph 16: sports media activities in the last 12 months, 2025
- There remains a significant gender gap in sports media consumption but younger women are more engaged
- Graph 17: sports media activities in the last 12 months, by gender, 2025
- Younger sports fans are viewing short sports highlights online
- Leverage sporting rights with bespoke, real-time goal update videos and highlights
- Gaming is a core part of the sports media landscape for Gen Z
- Gen Z are most likely demographic to pay for additional sports media
- Graph 18: sports media paid for in the last 12 months, 2025
- Prioritisation of sports media
- Live broadcasts are still prioritised over other sports media
- Graph 19: prioritisation of sports media, 2025
- Gen Z sports fans have priorities beyond live coverage
- Sports media platforms
- Free-to-air channels lead the way in both live coverage and highlights
- Graph 20: platforms used to watch live sports broadcasts in the last 12 months, 2025
- Graph 21: platforms used to watch sports highlights in the last 12 months, 2025
- Free-to-air is not having the same success among younger sports fans
- Social media platforms are the first port of call for sports highlights among younger fans
- Graph 22: sports viewing via social media platforms, by generation, 2025
- Netflix is already gaining a strong audience of young sports fans
- Sky Sports has wide appeal while Netflix is drawing in wrestling fans
- Women’s sport and media
- Demand for more women’s sport coverage is more about age than gender
- Women’s sports coverage has increased but streamers can accelerate growth
- Engagement with women’s sport has been driven by TV coverage and the success of national teams
- Graph 23: engagement with women’s sports, 2024
- Sports media and gambling
- The majority feel overloaded with gambling adverts
- Gambling on sport is commonplace with football leading the way
- Reduce the grip of the gambling industry on sports media or risk alienating fans
- Attitudes towards sport and the media
- The fragmentation of TV sports rights has left most fans unable to access all the content they would like
- Graph 24: attitudes towards sports media, 2025
- The high cost of sports media has left many looking to free streams online
- Streaming companies should look beyond boxing for innovative celebrity sports events
- Watching fan-made sports content on social media has become the norm for younger people
- Younger sports fans are open to engaging with new sports and formats
- Graph 25: proportion who have started watching a new sport in the last 12 months, by generation, 2025
- More flexible, tailored club and league subscriptions can entice young sports fans
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INNOVATION AND MARKETING TRENDS
- Competitive strategies and launch activity
- Sky continues to offer the most sporting content and expand its live coverage
- DAZN looks to boost brand recognition with free Club world cup coverage
- Amazon Prime Video has shifted towards aggregation in sports content
- Netflix is adopting a different sports strategy to its rivals and traditional pay-TV
- Streamers are looking to women’s football coverage
- Disney+ announces it will be the home of the Women’s Champions League
- Sky expands women’s football coverage with new five-year deal
- Social media clips are driving growth in niche new sports
- PSG make live VR moves, but the technology will have greater appeal for short clips
- Popularity of sports video games is driving eSports event launches
- 2025 edition of popular sports franchise Football Manager cancelled due to development issues
- Advertising and marketing activity
- Sky and TNT Sports lead the way when it comes to TV sports advertising
- Amazon promotes its coverage of the UEFA Champions League
- Sky Sports campaigns highlight its extensive Premier League coverage
- Netflix increases sports ad spending to mark NFL and WWE coverage
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APPENDIX
- Supplementary information
- Competition for football broadcasting has left fans having to pay for multiple platforms
- Listed events keep many finals FTA, but pay-TV and streaming has a tight grip on premium sports rights
- Advertising spend on sports TV programming
- Report scope and definitions
- Consumer research methodology
- Abbreviations and terms
- Nielsen Ad Intel coverage
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