Two thirds of sports fans say £30 per month is the cut-off point for expenditure on TV sports content.
A new report released by Deltatre Where the Money is Going: The Future of Sports Entertainment suggest the cap is leading operators to invest greater in tech to better monetise their audience.
The report says the amount the audience is prepared to pay is true across the generations. Only 27% of consumers over the age of 25 pay more than $39 per month for sports.
However, an improved tech experience leads to a 24% uplift in subscriber acquisition.
Executive interviews reveal global sports operators currently commit 15% of total budget to the OTT tech stack – which will be worth $6.8 billion by 2021 in North America alone.
“The sports OTT KPIs have changed. It’s no longer just about streaming the match. Encouraging viewers to come back day after day is the gold standard, even when there’s not a live match taking place. That means maximising engagement on the shoulders of the game itself. Tailoring video and editorial content to different types of fans and reconfiguring the UI and UX based on time of day, user insights, or the latest developments in the sports world that week is how brands can create a better ecosystem around a sport.” said Giampiero Rinaudo, CEO, Deltatre.
39% of consumers are watching four or more hours of sports programming on mobile per week. 72% of those surveyed cite personalisation and a tailored user experience as the most important feature offered by OTT sports services. Almost the same number of consumers (71%) want deeper immersion and a desire to feel closer to the action through the more advanced functionality that OTT can provide.