The race for sports content among global SVOD services is accelerating. According to new data from Gracenote, Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+, Disney+, Netflix, and Paramount+—collectively expanded their sports programming by more than 72% in Q1 2025. While four of the five services added sports content, Disney+ and Netflix saw the biggest jumps, with increases of 471% and nearly 100%, respectively.
This latest update from the Gracenote Data Hub, a quarterly snapshot of global SVOD programming, highlights a significant shift: live sports are now a critical component of streaming strategies, driving engagement, retention, and real-time viewership.
Disney+ Shakes Up the Sports Streaming Landscape
One of the most notable shifts comes from Disney+, which now accounts for nearly 33% of available sports programming, just behind Amazon’s 35% share. That dramatically changed from when Amazon controlled 54% of sports content in the previous quarter. The surge on Disney+ is mainly due to its integration of select ESPN programming, reinforcing the platform’s strategy to blend premium entertainment with live sports.
Meanwhile, Netflix accounts for just over 23% of sports programming, marking a major shift for a service that historically avoided live sports. With the success of sports docuseries like Formula 1: Drive to Survive, Netflix appears to be responding to the demand for both live events and sports-related storytelling.
Apple TV+, which did not expand its sports lineup last quarter, is expected to catch up as new MLS and MLB seasons bring additional live games to the platform.
How Bundling and Discovery Impact the Growth of Sports Streaming
At our recent panel about the future of streaming, bundling and content discovery emerged as major themes shaping the industry’s evolution.
Key takeaways from the panel:
- Bundling is becoming a major factor in streaming growth. During the panel, executives from STARZ, Plex, and Cineverse emphasized bundling as a key strategy for acquisition and retention. While the discussion focused on entertainment bundles, the Gracenote report highlights a similar trend in sports, where platforms are increasingly packaging live events with broader content offerings.
- Consumer experience and content discovery remain pain points. Panelists highlighted the complexity of navigating multiple versions of streaming services across platforms. Gracenote’s findings reinforce that metadata is crucial in improving content discovery—particularly for sports, where effective tagging and categorization help users find live games, highlights, and related programming.
- Live sports are a growing opportunity in FAST and AVOD models. The panelists also noted that advertisers are paying premium rates for live content, making sports even more attractive for ad-supported streaming platforms.
This trend was on full display during Super Bowl 59, which was streamed on Tubi—marking the first time a FAST service carried the game. 13.6 million viewers watched the Super Bowl on Tubi, demonstrating that sports and live events can significantly boost engagement on pure-play ad-supported platforms.
“Live sports programming continues to be an important driver of user growth, retention, and engagement for streaming services,” said Bill Michels, Chief Product Officer at Gracenote. “We are also seeing that relevant metadata—such as synopses, scores, highlights, and imagery—has the power to help streamers build world-class user experiences that keep users engaged beyond the live game.”
The Broader SVOD Expansion
Beyond sports, the total content volume across these five platforms also saw growth:
- 3,000 new movies, 2,000 new TV shows, and 500 additional sports programs were added in Q1 2025.
- Amazon Prime Video remains the largest overall content distributor, now offering nearly 69% of all available streaming content, up from 67.8% in Q1 2024.
- Disney+ is seeing a shift in its content mix. There has been a rise in French content and a notable decline in Indian-produced programming, making France the third-largest producer of Disney+ content, with a share of 5.6%.
- Drama remains the most popular genre across the five services, but on Disney+, it has been overtaken by documentary, comedy, children’s programming, and adventure.
Why This Matters
The 72% increase in sports programming across top streaming services underscores a major industry shift: live sports are no longer just the domain of traditional broadcasters or pay-TV operators. Streaming platforms are aggressively investing in sports to drive subscriber acquisition and retention.
Disney+’s massive sports expansion, combined with Netflix’s growing investment in live and unscripted sports content, signals that competition for premium live sports rights will only intensify.
At the same time, FAST services like Tubi are proving that live sports can be a major draw, shaking up the monetization model for premium events. The FAST and AVOD sports strategy could become a viable alternative for platforms that can’t afford billion-dollar rights deals but want to tap into sports’ unparalleled ability to drive engagement.
With Gracenote continuing to track the evolution of sports in streaming, the next Data Hub update will likely provide even more insights into how platforms are positioning sports as a core content category.
The Streaming Wars is intentionally ad-free
We don’t run display ads. Not because we can’t, but because we don’t believe in them.
They interrupt the reading experience. They cheapen the work. And they burn advertisers’ money on impressions nobody actually wants.
So we chose a different model.
We say the things people in this industry are already thinking but don’t say out loud. We connect the dots beyond the headline and focus on explaining why things matter to the people working in this business.
If you believe industry coverage can exist without clutter and interruption, you can support it here → SUPPORT TSW.
Support is optional. But it directly funds research and continued coverage — and helps prove this model can work.
Support TSW →
