By: Spencer Brockbank, Media Supervisor, Media+
The landscape of sports broadcasting has undergone a seismic shift with the rise of streaming services. Once dominated by traditional TV networks, it’s now a dynamic, on-demand world where fans enjoy unprecedented control over their viewing experience.
For advertisers, this shift has fueled an influx of advertising opportunities for brands looking to connect with this highly engaged, passionate and diverse audience. However, the rapid growth in this space—especially with advancements in technology and artificial intelligence—can present challenges for brands striving to stay ahead.
Different strokes for different folks: virtual ad placements create opportunities for smaller brands and more targeted buys than before. (Source: ADI.tv / YouTube)
In this piece, we’ll examine the evolution of sports streaming and highlight key considerations for brands looking to engage sports fans in the streaming era.
The Evolution of Streaming Services
The sports streaming space has undergone a remarkable transformation over the past decade, reshaping how 90.7 million U.S. viewers access and consume live sports.
In the early stages, sports streaming was dominated by a few niche platforms offering limited access to live games and replays, and often in lower quality. However, as digital infrastructure and internet speeds improved, larger sports networks and tech companies entered the space. Networks like ESPN and FOX launched platforms to complement their cable offerings, eventually providing live games, replays, and original content.
Today’s fans expect on-demand access on any device, opting for subscription apps over expensive cable. Major players like ESPN+, NBC Sports, Amazon Prime Video, and Apple TV+ now offer diverse ad-supported models with in-stream commercials, interactive ads, and live-action placements. Peacock and Prime Video, for instance, draw large audiences for Sunday and Thursday Night Football, while services like Paramount+, Disney+/Hulu, and ESPN feature ad-supported sports content for events like NFL Sunday, March Madness, and the NBA Playoffs.
These platforms have evolved to offer advanced audience targeting, allowing brands to use first-party or third-party data to efficiently reach the right viewers amid the large sports audiences.
Technological Advancements and Emerging Trends
Advancements in AI and machine learning are playing a significant role in reshaping sports streaming. AI-driven algorithms now analyze viewer behavior and preferences, optimizing ad placements in real time for greater relevance and engagement. Even content itself can be analyzed to gauge viewers’ emotional states, with ads tailored accordingly. As this technology progresses, it may soon allow live sports content to deliver location-specific ads based on local team performance.
Other emerging technology such as virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) are beginning to find applications within sports streaming, creating new engagement opportunities and premium content options. For example, Meta has pushed live NBA VR viewership on its Quest VR headsets for years and looks poised to continue to invest in that effort. Should this viewership method resonate with consumers, ad opportunities within VR/AR sports streaming will likely follow.
Key Considerations for Advertisers
Marketing your brand within sports content can reap dividends but also presents unique challenges with its ever-changing landscape of licenses, platforms and growing ad costs. Here are some key considerations to make your sports streaming ad efforts a success:
1. Budget Efficiency with Programmatic Buying
Ads in live sports streaming can be expensive. Buying programmatically allows you to target your ads more precisely and avoid overspending. Consider consolidating sports buying into a DSP (demand-side platform) via programmatic deals to spend wisely where you find the best performance for your audience.
2. Go Beyond the Spot
Live sports streaming means viewers expect minimal interruption. Advertisers should consider ad formats outside of traditional spots, like branded content overlays, lower-thirds and brief interstitials that don’t take fans away from the action.
3. One Yard at a Time
You don’t have to go for the Hail Mary with ads on every streaming platform in every ad format with your live sports campaign. This content has significant viewership and many audience segments which you can test at the level that’s right for your brand. Then, grow your efforts after each point you score with your live sports campaign.
4. Adapt to Multi-Device Consumption
Sports fans often watch across multiple devices, including phones, tablets, and smart TVs. Make sure your content is optimized for various screen sizes and responsive to device-specific formats, especially as growing younger audiences gravitate toward mobile viewing. Streaming platforms have redefined how fans watch and engage with sports. With an ever-growing array of services, improved technology and more interactive features, fans have more control than ever before. At the same time, the opportunities for advertisers are immense with massive, dedicated viewership and ever-growing ad tactics to best engage the right person at the right time with the right message.
