Altman Solon report finds similar proportion of sport executives are worried about live sport’s continued relevance

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A survey of just under 3,000 sport fans from the UK, US, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Mexico, Saudi Arabia and China by Altman Solon has found that only 67% of major European football league fans watch live games regularly. 

In addition, another part of the report from Altman Solon which asked 220 sport executives from the same countries found that 65% agree that live sport is in danger of losing its relevance.

“The appetizer and dessert are becoming the main dish for many sports fans,” said Altman Solon partner David Dellea. “This is a serious problem, as short-form content cannot possibly replace the unique commercial value of live sports. We’ve reached the tipping point where content originally created to generate interest in the games has become as sought after as the games themselves. The critical question for rights holders and partners is: how can we navigate challenges of discovery and access to funnel younger audiences to a live product that they want to watch?”

Common issues that respondents experience trying to watch live matches include not having access to the channel they’re on (38%), it not being broadcast in their region (23%), not knowing the matches are on (23%), and not knowing what channel it is on (18%). 34% say they experience no issues with access.

In particular, younger viewers watched more highlights and clips and less live action than older generations, with the 18-24 range watching 3.4 hours of live coverage a week and 2.7 hours of highlights and clips, while even 25-34 year-olds watch 4.1 hours and 2.9 hours respectively. Among the reasons for watching more highlights footage from 18-24 year-olds includes being able to watch them when they want (44%), being mainly interested in results (41%), being more easily sharable (36%) and fun to watch (33%), and accessibility issues such as not having time for live games (28%) and highlights/clips being more available (25%). Only 15% said they are not willing to pay for full games.

“The good news is that overall interest in sports is still strong,” said Altman Solon director Matt Del Percio. “Despite lower interest in watching games among younger fans, live sports still move the needle for networks and streamers – but it is now important to elevate the adjacent content and monetize it in its own right.”

The full report can be found here.