New research reveals majority of sports viewers face challenges watching streamed sports
InterDigital (NASDAQ:IDCC) and Parks Associates have released a comprehensive research paper revealing significant challenges in sports streaming consumption. The study highlights that 57% of sports viewers face technical difficulties when streaming sports, with issues ranging from buffering to poor video quality.
Key findings show that only 42% of US households maintained traditional pay TV services in Q1 2025, down from 62% in Q1 2020. Sports fans represent high-value customers, spending $88 monthly on streaming services compared to $64 for non-sports viewers. The research also reveals that 49% of female sports fans stream exclusively, compared to 42% of male fans, while 32% of viewers are interested in in-stream betting capabilities.
The report suggests that advanced video codecs like HEVC and H.266 (VVC) could help address these technical challenges by improving compression efficiency and video quality for high-resolution content.
InterDigital (NASDAQ:IDCC) e Parks Associates hanno pubblicato un dettagliato studio che evidenzia le principali difficolt脿 nella fruizione dello streaming sportivo. La ricerca mostra che il 57% degli spettatori sportivi incontra problemi tecnici durante lo streaming, con difficolt脿 che vanno dal buffering alla scarsa qualit脿 video.
I dati principali indicano che solo il 42% delle famiglie statunitensi ha mantenuto i servizi TV tradizionali nel primo trimestre del 2025, in calo rispetto al 62% del primo trimestre 2020. Gli appassionati di sport rappresentano clienti di alto valore, spendendo 88 dollari al mese per i servizi di streaming contro i 64 dollari dei non appassionati. La ricerca evidenzia inoltre che il 49% delle donne tifose fruisce esclusivamente in streaming, rispetto al 42% degli uomini, mentre il 32% degli spettatori 猫 interessato alle funzionalit脿 di scommesse integrate nello streaming.
Il report suggerisce che codec video avanzati come HEVC e H.266 (VVC) potrebbero contribuire a risolvere queste problematiche tecniche migliorando l鈥檈fficienza della compressione e la qualit脿 video per contenuti ad alta risoluzione.
InterDigital (NASDAQ:IDCC) y Parks Associates han publicado un estudio exhaustivo que revela importantes desaf铆os en el consumo de streaming deportivo. El estudio destaca que el 57% de los espectadores deportivos enfrentan dificultades t茅cnicas al transmitir deportes, con problemas que van desde el buffering hasta la baja calidad de video.
Los hallazgos clave muestran que solo el 42% de los hogares en EE.UU. mantuvieron servicios tradicionales de TV paga en el primer trimestre de 2025, frente al 62% en el primer trimestre de 2020. Los aficionados al deporte son clientes de alto valor, gastando 88 d贸lares mensuales en servicios de streaming en comparaci贸n con 64 d贸lares para quienes no ven deportes. La investigaci贸n tambi茅n revela que el 49% de las aficionadas al deporte transmiten exclusivamente, en comparaci贸n con el 42% de los hombres, mientras que el 32% de los espectadores est谩n interesados en capacidades de apuestas integradas en la transmisi贸n.
El informe sugiere que codecs de video avanzados como HEVC y H.266 (VVC) podr铆an ayudar a resolver estos desaf铆os t茅cnicos mejorando la eficiencia de compresi贸n y la calidad del video para contenido de alta resoluci贸n.
InterDigital (NASDAQ:IDCC)鞕� Parks Associates臧� 鞀ろ彫旄� 鞀ろ姼毽皪 靻岆箘鞐愳劀 欷戩殧頃� 氍胳牅鞝愳潉 氚濏瀸 膦呿暕 鞐瓣惮 氤搓碃靹滊ゼ 氚滍憸頄堨姷雼堧嫟. 鞐瓣惮鞐� 霐半ゴ氅� 鞀ろ彫旄� 鞁滌箔鞛愳潣 57%臧� 鞀ろ姼毽皪 鞁� 氩勴嵓毵侂秬韯� 鞝�頇旍 鞓侅儊旯岇 雼れ枒頃� 旮办垹鞝� 鞏措牑鞗�鞚� 瓴碃 鞛堨姷雼堧嫟.
欤检殧 瓴瓣臣搿滊姅 2025雲� 1攵勱赴 氙戈淡 臧�甑� 欷� 鞝勴喌 鞙犽 TV 靹滊箘鞀るゼ 鞙犾頃橂姅 牍勳湪鞚� 42%搿�, 2020雲� 1攵勱赴鞚� 62%鞐愳劀 臧愳唽頃� 瓴冹溂搿� 雮橅儉雮姷雼堧嫟. 鞀ろ彫旄� 韺潃 雴掛潃 臧�旃橂ゼ 歆�雼� 瓿犼皾鞙茧, 牍勳姢韽笭 鞁滌箔鞛� 雽�牍� 鞗� 88雼煬毳� 鞀ろ姼毽皪 靹滊箘鞀れ棎 歆�於�頃╇媹雼�. 霕愴暅 鞐瓣惮電� 鞐劚 鞀ろ彫旄� 韺潣 49%臧� 鞝勳爜鞙茧 鞀ろ姼毽皪鞚� 鞚挫毄頃橂┌, 雮劚 韺潃 42%鞚� 氚橂┐, 鞁滌箔鞛愳潣 32%電� 鞀ろ姼毽皪 雮� 氩犿寘 旮半姤鞐� 甏�鞁澊 鞛堧嫟瓿� 氚濏様鞀惦媹雼�.
氤搓碃靹滊姅 HEVC 氚� H.266 (VVC)鞕� 臧欖潃 瓿犼笁 牍勲敂鞓� 旖旊嵄鞚� 鞎曥稌 須湪靹标臣 瓿犿暣靸侂弰 旖橅厫旄犾潣 鞓侅儊 頀堨鞚� 臧滌劆頃橃棳 鞚措煬頃� 旮办垹鞝� 氍胳牅毳� 頃搓舶頃橂姅 雿� 霃勳泙鞚� 霅� 靾� 鞛堧嫟瓿� 鞝滌晥頃╇媹雼�.
InterDigital (NASDAQ:IDCC) et Parks Associates ont publi茅 une 茅tude approfondie r茅v茅lant des d茅fis importants dans la consommation de streaming sportif. L鈥櫭﹖ude souligne que 57 % des spectateurs sportifs rencontrent des difficult茅s techniques lors du streaming, avec des probl猫mes allant du buffering 脿 une mauvaise qualit茅 vid茅o.
Les r茅sultats cl茅s montrent que seulement 42 % des foyers am茅ricains ont conserv茅 les services TV payants traditionnels au premier trimestre 2025, contre 62 % au premier trimestre 2020. Les fans de sport sont des clients 脿 forte valeur ajout茅e, d茅pensant 88 $ par mois pour les services de streaming contre 64 $ pour les non-sportifs. L鈥櫭﹖ude r茅v猫le 茅galement que 49 % des fans de sport f茅minines regardent exclusivement en streaming, contre 42 % des hommes, tandis que 32 % des spectateurs s鈥檌nt茅ressent aux fonctionnalit茅s de paris int茅gr茅s au streaming.
Le rapport sugg猫re que des codecs vid茅o avanc茅s comme HEVC et H.266 (VVC) pourraient aider 脿 r茅soudre ces probl猫mes techniques en am茅liorant l鈥檈fficacit茅 de compression et la qualit茅 vid茅o pour les contenus en haute r茅solution.
InterDigital (NASDAQ:IDCC) und Parks Associates haben eine umfassende Studie ver枚ffentlicht, die erhebliche Herausforderungen beim Sport-Streaming aufzeigt. Die Untersuchung zeigt, dass 57 % der Sportzuschauer technische Schwierigkeiten beim Streaming erleben, von Pufferung bis hin zu schlechter Videoqualit盲t.
Wesentliche Erkenntnisse zeigen, dass nur 42 % der US-Haushalte im ersten Quartal 2025 traditionelle Pay-TV-Dienste nutzten, im Vergleich zu 62 % im ersten Quartal 2020. Sportfans sind wertvolle Kunden, die monatlich 88 US-Dollar f眉r Streaming-Dienste ausgeben, verglichen mit 64 US-Dollar bei Nicht-Sportzuschauern. Die Studie zeigt zudem, dass 49 % der weiblichen Sportfans ausschlie脽lich streamen, gegen眉ber 42 % der m盲nnlichen Fans, w盲hrend 32 % der Zuschauer an In-Stream-Wettfunktionen interessiert sind.
Der Bericht schl盲gt vor, dass fortschrittliche Videocodecs wie HEVC und H.266 (VVC) helfen k枚nnten, diese technischen Probleme durch verbesserte Kompressionseffizienz und Videoqualit盲t bei hochaufl枚senden Inhalten zu l枚sen.
- Sports fans demonstrate high monetization potential, spending 37.5% more on streaming than non-sports viewers ($88 vs $64 monthly)
- 55% of SVOD households subscribe to five or more streaming services, showing strong market penetration
- Growing opportunity in sports betting integration, with 57% of viewers aged 25-44 interested in placing bets through streaming services
- 57% of sports viewers experience technical challenges when streaming sports content
- 30% of viewers cannot access desired sports content due to streaming service limitations
- 18% of sports viewers report poor video quality issues, rising to 31% among younger viewers aged 18-24
- More households are opting to only have an OTT subscription, scrapping pay TV
40% of sports viewers exclusively watch sports via streaming services- Pure play streaming services account for nearly a quarter of the NFL鈥檚 broadcast revenue
WILMINGTON, Del., July 22, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The sports media landscape is shifting, with viewers increasingly turning to streaming via digital platforms, and parting ways with traditional broadcast and cable. But streaming services must deal with technical issues such as latency and buffering, as over half (
The paper, titled 鈥淪treaming Live Sports: Where Opportunity Meets Complexity,鈥� explores how people consume live sports entertainment, from broadcast to subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) services, direct-to-consumer (D2C) subscription models, pay-per-view, and paywall systems. It also covers the pain points viewers are facing and how the streaming ecosystem can keep up with demand.
With streaming subscriptions on the rise and cord cutting continuing, there are distinct viewing habits emerging among different demographics:
42% of US internet households paid for a traditional pay TV service in Q1 2025, down from62% in Q1 2020.- Over half (
55% ) of SVOD households subscribe to five or more SVOD services. - Sports fans are among the most valuable viewers, spending an average of
$88 per month on streaming services, compared with$64 per month by those who don鈥檛 watch sports. - Two-fifths (
40% ) of sports viewers under 35 watch sports on social media platforms, compared to just13% of those aged 55+. - More female sports fans than men stream sports exclusively (
49% vs42% ). 32% of sports viewers find placing bets in a streaming service attractive (spiking to57% of sports viewers aged 25-44).
More than half (
- Almost one in five (
18% ) sports viewers reported poor quality video from a streaming service. - Just under a third (
31% ) of sports viewers aged 18-24 cited poor video quality (freezing, buffering, etc.), insufficient bandwidth for high quality streaming (25% ), and lag (20% ) as common problems when streaming sports. - Poor video quality is a particular problem for younger age groups who enjoy interactivity while watching sports, such as multi-view and in-game stats.
Poor video quality is increasingly impacting the sports viewing experience, and the paper argues that one solution is more efficient video codecs. For example, HEVC is well-suited for high-resolution content like 4K, where its compression efficiency helps reduce file sizes and improves bandwidth usage. It is also designed to handle the increased data demands of HDR video, which expands the range of colors and contrast in video. H.266 (VVC) is a next-generation solution to these challenges, offering even higher compression efficiency, improved video quality, and support for ultra-high resolutions particularly suited to streaming high-resolution content over mobile networks and broadcasting in ultra-high definition.
鈥淪ports viewers should not have to deal with technical issues when watching their favorite sports teams. The broadcast and streaming ecosystem needs to work together to alleviate pain points or risk damaging their reputation for future events,鈥� said Lionel Oisel, Head of Video Labs, at InterDigital. 鈥淲hile streaming services need to think holistically about the challenges that come with live video streams, more advanced video codecs can significantly reduce buffering and latency and improve the overall user experience.鈥�
鈥淭he sports media landscape is transforming, as sports programming transitions from traditional broadcast and cable networks to streaming,鈥� said Michael Goodman, Senior Analyst, Parks Associates. 鈥淪ports fans now have more ways than ever to engage with their favorite teams or sports. Many niche sports and out-of-market matches, previously unavailable, are now easily accessible, which can expand the sports audience, and providers have new opportunities to engage viewers in interactive activities, such as multicasts, live chats, and in-game betting, provided the experience is easy and seamless.鈥�
The full report, 鈥淪treaming Live Sports: Where Opportunity Meets Complexity,鈥� is available to download .
About InterDigital庐
InterDigital is a global research and development company focused primarily on聽wireless, video, artificial intelligence (鈥淎I鈥�), and related technologies. We design and develop foundational technologies that enable connected, immersive experiences in a broad range of communications and entertainment products and services. We license our innovations worldwide to companies providing such products and services, including makers of聽wireless聽communications devices, consumer electronics, IoT devices, cars and other motor vehicles, and providers of cloud-based services such as video streaming. As a leader in聽wireless聽technology, our engineers have designed and developed a wide range of innovations that are used in聽wireless聽products and networks, from the earliest digital cellular systems to 5G and today鈥檚 most advanced Wi-Fi technologies. We are also a leader in video processing and video encoding/decoding technology, with a significant AI research effort that intersects with both聽wireless聽and video technologies.
Founded in 1972, InterDigital is listed on Nasdaq.
InterDigital is a registered trademark of InterDigital, Inc.
For more information, visit:聽.
InterDigital Contact:
Richard Lloyd
贰尘补颈濒:听+1 (202) 349-1716
FAQ
What percentage of sports viewers face challenges when streaming live sports in 2025?
How much do sports fans spend on streaming services compared to non-sports viewers?
What is the current state of traditional pay TV subscriptions in 2025?
How many sports viewers are interested in betting through streaming services?
What are the main technical challenges faced by sports streamers?
