The live sports broadcast has been around for decades, dating back to the 1920’s when baseball games started being broadcast on radio stations. Today, tapping into live sporting events offers brands many benefits. Website

The rise of streaming services has opened up new channels for sports content to reach audiences. As the number of cord-cutters grows, it makes sense for sports teams and streaming services to partner to bring live sport content directly to fans. The resulting streaming-exclusive deals offer the opportunity to generate high ad revenue while helping to offset increasing operational costs for legacy pay-TV providers and direct-to-consumer (DTC) players.

The Most Anticipated Live Sports Events of the Year

In addition, exclusive sports content can differentiate a platform from its competitors and attract loyal followers who are willing to pay a premium for the privilege of watching their favorite teams in action. And because live sports can last hours, the opportunity for supplemental content like pre-game shows and post-game analysis helps to extend overall viewing time on the platform.

Moreover, new research suggests that attending sporting events may improve life satisfaction scores among spectators. The reason could be that social interaction at sporting events leads to a greater sense of belonging. As the popularity of live sports streaming continues to grow, it will be interesting to see how these new findings might impact future sponsorship deals and audience acquisition strategies for DTC sports platforms.