Live sports has been a big drawing card for broadcasters for the last several years, but that could be changing.

In April, Rogers Communications, Amazon and the National Hockey League (NHL) signed an agreement to have Monday night hockey stream exclusively on Prime Video. The Monday night programming will be produced by Prime Video and feature a new broadcast team.

With deals like this, and more streamers like Netflix and Samsung getting involved with sports leagues, the future of sports viewing is undergoing a transformation. For consumers this could mean increases in subscription fees since there is no potential for sports programming to run across multiple platforms.

Krystal Seymour, VP buying at Jungle Media says Monday night NHL games becoming exclusive to streaming is a game-changer, and while Monday isn’t a prime hockey night, it is a sign of what is to come.

“The streaming era has created a fragmentation that is becoming less efficient for viewers who have to increasingly purchase more subscriptions and less efficient for advertisers in terms of execution, reach, and costs,” says Seymour.

“No group is more impacted by this than sports buyers and fans, with major sporting leagues being spread out across more than five different services,” she adds. “The NHL deal is particularly monumental given Canadians’ affinity for hockey, and it’s fortunate that the deal was made with a service like Amazon Prime that is already in so many households. It’s a slap shot at linear TV and local media, but as a buyer cheering for both teams I think we will see some solid defence from the broadcasters.”

Devon MacDonald (pictured), president of Cairns Oneil says the deal is a great move by Rogers and an excellent way to extend its partnership with Amazon.

“The audience has splintered for sports, and accessing fans on streaming platforms is a positive move for fans, broadcasters and leagues. It can create a splintered community experience as people seek content across platforms, but this in particular helps unlock a new base for fans to potentially grow viewership and interest in the league.

“The NFL has broadly adopted this approach by first moving games across days of the week, which used to be sacrosanct and against their agreement with college football but has extended over the last few years with partners like Amazon too.”

Cobi Zhang (pictured), VP, media investment and activation at Horizon Media says live sporting events have always been the broadcasters’ strongest offerings. But he also believes Prime Video acquiring the rights to NHL Monday Night is not the first, and certainly won’t be the last of such a move.

“It’s only the beginning of more sports rights migrating from broadcasters to streaming platforms. The next time a major sports league’s broadcasting/streaming rights are up for grabs, we can certainly expect streaming platforms like Prime, YouTube or Apple to throw their hats in the ring,” says Zhang. “The fact that they are backed by global tech giants with seemingly unlimited financial resources enable them to compete with the legacy model.”

“We may also see partnerships forming between broadcasters and streaming platforms, providing somewhat of a hybrid model,” he adds. “This may lead to more fragmentation, which isn’t necessarily good news to consumers. An average consumer would need to navigate through all the different services, all with different tiering and pricing, which could be challenging. At the end of the day, sports fans just like any consumer would prefer ease of use and affordability.”

The industry adage – content is king – continues to ring true, says Jeff Thibodeau (pictured), president of PMX Canada, a Publicis Media Canada agency. “Nowhere is that more prevalent than with sports.”

“It’s becoming clear that sports is becoming a pivotal battleground for linear and streaming companies alike as they all compete to differentiate themselves and secure a spot in consumers’ monthly subscriptions. We’re seeing it in the expanded Prime Video NFL offering, the Netflix WWE Raw deal, AppleTV’s bets on MLS and ML.”

Thibodeau says that although paid streaming access is nothing new to the sports landscape – with historical offerings such as NFL Sunday Ticket and NHL Centre Ice – consumers are entering an era with unprecedented access to expanded sports content that will come at a price.

“Fragmentation of the content across multiple platforms means more subscriptions, and more fees to access their favourite sports,” says Thibodeau. “This trend poses challenges for linear broadcasters, who in recent years have relied on live sports programming to bolster declining audience numbers. As the rights battle becomes more fragmented and competitive, broadcasters face mounting pressure to pass on higher fees to advertisers through ad sale pricing, leading to disproportionate inflationary pressures in the marketplace.”

He adds that while sports leagues stand to benefit significantly from the fragmentation of their content, it appears that broadcasters, streamers, advertisers, and ultimately consumers will bear the brunt of additional costs in this evolving model.

Adele Lettau (picture), VP of investments for Dentsu Media, says sports viewing has gone through incredible growth over the past few years and even non-sports fans are flocking to big moments like the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, and this year’s Super Bowl LVIII.

Lettau says, “Live sports is where audiences are and there is a battle for that content due to the ratings gains, and now the subscriber gains. Being a sports fan can be demanding, hunting down who will broadcast a match, but people have and will continue to pay for their sports content to watch their favourite teams.

“As advertisers, we are ensuring we are constantly in touch with partners to know what the next move is, the next advertising opportunity and the next integration. You cannot rest on what you know about sports as a media agency or a brand, because it is a dynamic market. People want to hold onto their audiences, and we need to put our clients where there is the best quality and attention – and that means following the bouncing ball of sports.”