For decades, ESPN has been the top name in sports media. They built a $16B business mostly off cable subscription fees, and 62% of their revenue in 2023 came from the cable bundle. The problem they are now facing is that in the past 10 years, 40M U.S. households have cut the cord, and linear TV is in a decline. ESPN is still big, but now they are up against much larger streaming service competitors, such as, Amazon, Apple. Google, YouTube TV, who spend billions to challenge ESPN’s dominance in live sports.

Where we are now.

• Linear Sports: still available to buy through TV networks, but the audience is declining. Older demographics stick around, but the younger fans are leaving. Buying only linear means paying premium prices for a declining reach.
• Streaming Sports: More options, but it is fragmented across ESPN, Peacock, YouTube, Amazon, and Apple. Each platform has its own buying system and rules. You can target by geography, time of day, and day of week, but not by specific game.

What’s changing.

Sports rights are more expensive than ever. Amazon spends $1B per year on Thursday Night Football. YouTube pays $2B per year for NFL Sunday Ticket, These are not just content plays. Amazon ties NFL ads directly to Prime shopping data, which means better targeting, higher conversion, and strong ROI for advertisers.

• Peacock NBA rights: Peacock will stream exclusive NBA games starting in the 2025-26 season, adding new premium live sports inventory for advertisers.
• ESPN is trying to adapt this. They are launching two new streaming products:
  1. A joint venture with Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery (each gets one third ownership), which is meant to be cheaper than cable in order to attract younger fans.
  2. Their own standalone ESPN streaming service, which will finally integrate all ESPN content. Right now, ESPN Plus does not include Monday night football. That will stay on cable until the new rollout.
• Disney wants ESPN to become a digital sports hub, a one stop portal where fans can find games no matter which platform owns the rights.

What this meaning for Advertising.

Streaming changes how we buy sports:

• Target Smarter: Take advantage of geography, time of day, and day of week targeting in streaming to localize messaging. Even without specific game targeting, we can align with fan behavior (Sunday NFL windows, primetime college games, etc.)
• Lean on Programmatic: Use DSPs (like The Trade Desk) to combine buys across multiple streaming platforms. This helps us manage frequency and control CPMs.
• Hybrid Strategy: Keep some investment in linear to reach older audiences who have not cut the cord, but also allocate some budget into streaming where growth is happening.
• PMP Deals: Secure inventory through PMPs with publishers like ESPN, Peacock, etc, to guarantee access to live sports packages

How we implement this.

• Unique Opportunities: Sports, especially football, are one of the only places where everyone, young and old, is watching together. Sports is basically one of the only true monoculture moments left in the media.
• Football 2025: We have the possibility to maximize reach in 2025, since campaigns this year are able to get the entire fall football season: September, October, November, and December. In 2026, inventory will shrink to only September and October.
• CPM costs: The pricing is higher, but it is justified by the attention, live viewership, and audience quality. Football is able to offer a very engaged audience we can reach.
• Political Advantage: We will be able to target geographically (Congressional Districts, DMAs, etc) and be able to reach voters in a way that feels new and different. This has the potential to be a premium political inventory that is hard to replicate. We want to be ahead of the curve in placing ads where voters actually are.

Sports are still the ultimate live content, and remains one of the only true monoculture moments
where everyone is watching together. But the audience is shifting fast. Buying only linear sports
means paying more for less. A smarter approach is a hybrid media plan that balances the scale
of traditional TV with the targeting and measurement of streaming. By leaning on programmatic
buys, PMP deals for priority access to premium live inventory, data- driven platforms, and
flexible buying, we can make sure the media dollars are placed where voters are paying
attention.