How Venu Sports Fits Into the Rapidly Growing Market of Sports Streamers

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Streaming continues to be an ever-evolving landscape and a contentious battleground for streaming platforms, media companies, and sports leagues alike. This week, the sports streaming industry was poised for a major shake-up from Venu Sports, a joint venture between Disney, Fox, and Warner Bros Discovery offering the sports channels of each. The platform was slated for launch this week but that is now on hold due to legal challenges, and the service’s future is uncertain as a result.

Should the platform manage to overcome the legal dispute and go live, CivicScience data show 28% of those who are aware of the platform are likely to subscribe, including 9% who would be ‘very’ likely to do so. It also garnered interest from 18% of those considering cutting the cord on cable/satellite, 42% of Peacock users, as well as 34% of Amazon Prime Video users.

Take Our Poll: How likely, if at all, are you to subscribe to the new sports-centered streaming service Venu Sports?

The data suggest Venu would draw considerable interest from streamers. What does the current sports streaming landscape look like right now?

Cord-cutting continues its upward trend.

CivicScience data show the percentage of those who have cut the cord on cable or satellite has risen by 10 percentage points to 61% since 2022, even as the industry gradually begins to resemble cable with its variety of bundle packages and combos like Venu. 

Live sports has also fueled the tense battle for streaming subscriptions – the percentage of Americans who watch at least one hour of sports on TV per week on average and say they have cut the cord on their cable/satellite packages has increased by a similar nine-point increase to 58% over the same time period.

Live sports fans eye new subscriptions this year.

Additional CivicScience data find there is likely to be ample movement within the sports streaming sector among consumers. While 14% of sports watchers say they’re already subscribed to their preferred streaming service for sports viewing, more than a third say they’re likely to subscribe to a streaming service specifically to watch live sports. ¹

Amid numerous sports streaming options, CivicScience polling finds Amazon Prime Video leads as sports fans’ most preferred platform for live sports, slightly ahead of ESPN+. This is particularly noteworthy as it comes on the heels of Amazon reaching a deal with the WNBA and NBA to begin coverage of the 2025-26 season (pending litigation). Peacock, likely powered by Olympics momentum and its exclusive NFL games, rounds out the top three.

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Whether it’s the NBA jumping to Amazon or the Paris Olympics shining on Peacock, it’s clear that sports will be a significant player in the streaming industry for years to come. Momentum for cord-cutting and adding subscriptions among sports viewers continues, even as roughly 3-in-10 sports fans with a subscription of any kind say they ‘have too many subscriptions.’ ² And while Venu Sports might not become a reality, the interest it generated suggests that cable-esque packages could still have a role to play in the sports streaming world.

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