Netflix of Sports Hasn’t Arrived But …

In the five years since Ed wrote “Handicapping the Netflix of sports” (SBJ, 3/2/28/1/16), streaming has boomed: Disney+, HBO Max and Apple TV+ have joined Netflix and Amazon and “over-the-top” is now materially affecting traditional cable. As predicted for sports, BAM and Disney combined to launch ESPN+; Amazon bought NFL and EPL rights; and new sports-only streamers launched, including FloSports and DAZN. However, a single “Netflix of sports” has not emerged. In fact, we now anticipate there will not be one sports aggregator. Therefore, every property must now rethink its key source of…