{"id":857,"date":"2022-06-14T09:56:29","date_gmt":"2022-06-14T13:56:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/sportspoll\/?p=857"},"modified":"2022-06-14T09:56:29","modified_gmt":"2022-06-14T13:56:29","slug":"sports-fans-cutting-cords-wading-into-the-stream-9-pt-drop-in-cable-6-in-satellite-subscriptions-last-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/sportspoll\/2022\/06\/14\/sports-fans-cutting-cords-wading-into-the-stream-9-pt-drop-in-cable-6-in-satellite-subscriptions-last-year\/","title":{"rendered":"Sports Fans Cutting Cords, Wading into the Stream: 9 Pt. Drop in Cable, 6 in Satellite Subscriptions Last Year"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"South Orange, NJ June 14, 2022 \u2013 The television landscape has been gradually shifting for years, and the Seton Hall Sports Poll has been tracking this shift in how the American public is watching sports.<\/p>\n

In comparison to a May 2021 Seton Hall Sports Poll, cable and satellite TV subscriptions among all respondents were down. For cable, the drop was 11 points (from 36 percent to 25); for satellite it was 6 points (19 percent to 13).<\/p>\n

Among those who said they were not \u201csports fans\u201d the decline in subscriptions was greater: cable subscriptions were down in these households 13 points (31 percent to 18) and satellite was down from 14 to 8 points (14 percent to 8) in that 12-month period.<\/p>\n

Among self-described sports fans the numbers for those subscribed to cable and satellite also dropped, but slightly less so with 9 points for cable (39 percent to 30) and 6 points for satellite (22 percent to 16).<\/p>\n

Percentages<\/strong>
\nThe decline in cable and satellite subscriptions among all respondents\u2019 households amounts to a 31 percent decrease for cable and 32 percent for satellite over the course of the year.<\/p>\n

For those who do not describe themselves as sports fans, the decline was 42 percent for cable and 43 percent for satellite.<\/p>\n

Among self-described sports fans, the decline for cable subscriptions in their households was 23 percent and 27 percent for satellite.<\/p>\n

\u201cLong has been an axiom in the media business that live sports are keeping the networks afloat with their strong viewership. And these numbers, showing sports fans hanging on to the cord in greater numbers than the general population, bears that out,\u201d said Professor Charles Grantham, Director of the Center for Sport Management within Seton Hall\u2019s Stillman School of Business, which sponsors the Poll. \u201cBut the numbers also show a drop of major concern among sports fans \u2013 there\u2019s a new kid in town and now the leagues and networks need to work on their streaming game.\u201d<\/p>\n

These were the findings of a Seton Hall Sports Poll conducted this last month among 1,514 adults across the country. The poll features a national representative sample weighted on U.S. Census Bureau figures for gender, age, ethnicity, education, income and geography and has a margin of error of +\/- 3.2 percent.<\/p>\n

Wading into the Stream with Soccer<\/strong>
\nNBC is one company preparing for a shift to streaming and their Peacock network has doubled its subscribers among sports fans in the last year, largely it would seem because of its coverage of Premier League football (soccer) among American viewers<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Among all respondents Peacock was up six points (from nine percent saying that they subscribed to the service in May 2021 to 15 percent in May 2022). Among sports fans that number jumped from 10 percent in 2021 to 20 percent this year \u2013 a hundred percent increase.<\/p>\n

Baseball\u2019s Stream Dammed?<\/strong>
\nThe shift to baseball streaming, however, is not without its challenges. The poll asked if Major League Baseball\u2019s foray into streaming services this year (Apple TV+, Amazon Prime and Peacock), has made it more difficult to watch games. Among those who describe themselves as \u201cavid sports fans,\u201d 56 percent said yes to this versus 40 percent saying no. Among those who describe themselves as sports fans, 37 percent said yes it was more difficult to watch games versus 56 percent saying no. And among the general population, 24 percent said yes and 65 percent said no.<\/p>\n

Stream Subscribe<\/strong>
\nAsked which streaming services one\u2019s household has a paid subscription to, among all respondents Amazon Prime (46 percent saying yes) and Netflix (at 47 percent) received the highest \u201cyes\u201d response. These numbers slightly dropped, with Amazon registering 48 percent in 2021 and Netflix 51.<\/p>\n

Among sports fans Amazon Prime dropped from 47 to 46 percent over the last year, while Netflix dropped 9 points \u2013 from 53 to 44 percent.<\/p>\n

\u2018The question is\u2026 can a streaming platform continue to grow without live sports?\u201d said Seton Hall Marketing Professor and Poll Methodologist Daniel Ladik. \u201cWhile Amazon Prime does, Netflix does not stream live sports and sticks to its sports documentaries. This question is something the Seton Hall Sports Poll will track going forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

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#\u00a0 #\u00a0 #<\/p>\n

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Questions with charted breakdowns below; an online version of this release may be found at https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/sportspoll\/<\/a><\/p>\n

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May 2022 Seton Hall Sports Poll Results<\/strong><\/p>\n

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This SHSP was conducted May 5th<\/sup> through May 9th<\/sup> and includes responses from 1,514 US adults with a margin of error of 3.2%. The sample mirrors the US Census percentages on age, gender, income, education, ethnicity, and region. <\/em><\/p>\n

Q1.<\/strong> Which, if any, of the following statements best describes you?<\/p>\n