2/3 of sports fans still rely on free-to-air

A report from Ampere Analysis, commissioned by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), has found that a sport’s reach drops by 68% when it moves to pay-TV. 

The EBU, which represents public service broadcasters across Europe, and Ampere believe this means that if a tier two or tier three sport is to move behind a paywall, it needs a 40% increase in broadcast revenues to offset the value of free-to-air’s reach.

According to the report, a minute of airtime exposure across free-to-air European TV is worth €220,000 (£189,033) equivalent commercial value for sponsors.

This news comes as a number of sports which had been behind paywalls in the UK look to have some free-to-air broadcasts too. For example, cricket has moved in this direction in recent years, as well as Formula 1. In addition, the Women’s Super League recently signed a broadcast deal with Sky Sports, but will continue to show some matches on the BBC.

Director of Eurovision Sport Glen Killane said: “Sport federations need to consider the balance between their rights revenue and the increased reach – and accompanying sponsor value - they gain from working with free-to-air channels.

“Public service media can also help build sports’ brand and attract new fans to watch and participate.

“It’s particularly noticeable that demographic shifts mean younger audiences are especially hard to reach via traditional forms of paid TV distribution. Our Members’ VOD platforms, and our own work in providing digital exploitation solutions, offers new opportunities for sport federations to exploit all their rights beyond the confines of linear schedules.”

Ampere Analysis research director Richard Broughton added: “While every sport is at a different stage of development, and has different trade-offs to consider, it is nonetheless clear that sports federations face increasingly tough decisions around how their events should be televised. 

“The era of hyper-inflation of rights income is ending, and it is not obvious that streaming services will support the headline values which many rights owners are hoping for. Against this backdrop, rights strategy - and the associated pros and cons which accompany any individual deal - needs careful consideration.”