Sports viewing on the web to grow tenfold

Joel Espelien

Viewing of broadband-distributed sports content is set to grow tenfold between 2015 and 2025, driven by the growing availability of OTT TV services, according to US research firm The Diffusion Group (TDG).

The research claims that weekly per-capita viewing of OTT TV sports will grow from just under 25 minutes in 2015 to more than four hours in 2025, with adult broadband users already spending 20% of their weekly TV time viewing live sports.

TDG found that 72% of adult broadband users consider themselves “avid fans” of least one sports genre, with 19% claiming to be avid fans of six or more sports.

“Most TV viewers enjoy live sports. There are, however, certain segments that do so more than others. This reality was not lost on Dish, who positioned ESPN front and centre in its new ‘skinny’ Sling TV broadband service,” said TDG senior advisor, Joel Espelien.