The data: Streamers and connected TV (CTV) platforms have a discovery problem when it comes to live sports.

• 33.5% of US sports fans spend more than five minutes trying to find a specific sporting event, and 14.2% say it takes over 10 minutes, per Gracenote.
• 35.8% can only sometimes find game information on the internet, and 27.2% find info rarely or never.
• 30.9% pay for three or more subscription services to watch sports, increasing the difficulty in finding the right platform to watch.

Time spent searching for live events across a fragmented streaming environment can cut into viewing time and potentially lead to negative sentiment around streaming services and CTV platforms. This also presents a challenge for advertisers that might lose impressions on premium placements.

Zooming in: As the 2026 NFL season kicks off, games are distributed across TV networks and streaming services, requiring searches to find where to watch.

• TV: CBS, ESPN, FOX, and NBC.
• Streaming: NFL+ (mobile app only), YouTube’s NFL Sunday Ticket, FOX One, Peacock, Paramount+, ESPN, Amazon’s Prime Video, and Netflix.

In week one alone, with 16 games, the only platform with no games is Prime Video.

Zooming out: We expect three-quarters of live sports viewers in the US—about 122.7 million people—will use digital services this year. And most of those sports fans want a better streaming experience.