A new report from consulting firm Altman Solon suggests younger sports fans are watching fewer live events and turning to highlights instead.
The company’s 2024 Global Sports Survey spoke to 3,000 adult consumers and 220 senior sports executives across eight countries, including the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Mexico, United States and China, between July and September this year.
It found two-thirds (66 per cent) of executives are concerned that live sport is losing relevance, and only 19 per cent think that the industry is proactive enough in dealing with the problem.
In Europe, only around two-thirds of followers of top football leagues regularly watch live games, found the survey.
It suggests sports media outlets should introduce lower-priced tiers to expand content access while “ensuring that premium tiers offer differentiated services valued by high-paying fans to avoid cannibalisation”.
Rights owners also need to expand their distribution networks beyond incumbent partners to use the growing influence of digital communities, said Altman Solon.
“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,” said Altman Solon partner David Dellea. “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?”