This is the first part of a three-part series, Public Value in Play: How Public Broadcasters Can Lead the Next Era of Sports Coverage.
A couple of weeks before the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, sports fans in France knew they were in for a treat. Not only did France Télévisions, the national public service broadcaster (PSB), assure the games would have “virtually 24-hour coverage” on its linear channels, but it also announced the launch of a new digital channel, which would offer – alongside live content – exclusive programming outside event broadcast windows.
The new channel, ‘Francetv Sport,’ builds on the momentum of the public broadcaster’s sports coverage last year. “In 2025, 60 million French people watched sports on France Télévisions,” said Stéphane Sitbon-Gomez, director of antennas and programmes at France Télévisions. “With this new free digital channel, we wish to continue our role as a public service in favour of free and universality for all.”
Francetv Sport is also a proponent of innovation. The channel will include an interactive feature that allows online viewers to discuss Olympic moments with commentators and analysts through a live chat called ‘the live zone.’ “We’re taking inspiration from Twitch,” explained Nicolas Vinoy, director of digital offering at France Télévisions. “The difference is that we have the video.”
Where innovation meets public service
The convergence of sports and innovation in public broadcasting is not surprising. Since the advent of television, public broadcasters and sports have had a symbiotic relationship. From global events like the Olympics and the FIFA World Cup to local leagues and emerging competitions, public broadcasters help bring sports to the widest possible audience, ensuring sporting moments remain a shared cultural experience while gaining prominence in return.
The symbiosis extends to economic vitality as well. According to an independent study commissioned by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) from Oxford Economics, the economic impact of public service media (PSM) sports broadcasting contributed €4.9 billion to Europe’s GDP and supported over 60,000 jobs in 2022. Additional benefits include:
- PSM’s wide-reaching coverage generates significant additional income streams for sports organizations through sponsorship and advertising revenue.
- PSM exposure helps maintain a sport’s fan base or, in the case of an emerging sport, grow the fan base, thereby generating higher gate receipts and merchandising revenues, on top of sponsorship income.
- PSM sports coverage is a catalyst for wider societal benefits, such as promoting grassroots sports participation, health, and wellbeing.
Shrinking budgets, shifting audiences
Despite the benefits of PSM sports coverage, broadcasters worldwide are facing two significant challenges in the 21st century. The first is budget cuts. US stations are not alone; research revealed that BBC funding was cut by 25% between 2010 and 2021, and data from the EBU shows that other European broadcasters are also struggling with shrinking budgets, with total funding for public media in the 27 EU member states decreased by 7.4% over the past decade.
The impact on public broadcasters’ sports offerings has been significant. France Télévisions, for example, had to sell nine out of fifteen matches in the 2026 Six Nations Championship to TF1, a private television channel, due to budget cuts. In Germany, public broadcasters’ spending on sports rights was recently capped at 5% of their total expenditure.
The second main challenge faced by public broadcasters is new consumption habits, especially among younger generations. WSC Sports’ 2025/26 fan engagement study, based on a survey of 1,050 US sports fans, reveals that sports viewership trends have changed dramatically:
- Streaming services are now the primary viewing platform for younger fans, with 65% of Millennials and 55% of Gen Zers selecting them as their main sports destination.
- Personalization has become a make-or-break feature: more than half of fans have canceled or switched streaming services due to poor personalization.
- Gen Z is more likely than any other generation to choose short-form sports content over live games.
Sports as major opportunity
Sports also represent one of the clearest paths forward for public broadcasters facing these pressures. As audiences fragment and budgets tighten, major sporting rights remain among the few assets that consistently draw mass attention. The challenge is amplification: ensuring that these moments reach audiences in the formats, frequencies, and contexts they now expect.
This is where digital transformation becomes decisive. AI-powered content creation platforms allow public broadcasters to produce significantly more sports content with leaner teams, while tailoring it to modern consumption habits. Automated short-form storytelling helps extend the value of live rights far beyond broadcast windows, aligning public service mandates with the realities of today’s media landscape.
The next article in this series will detail how public broadcasters, by virtue of owning premier sports rights, can use current content approaches to navigate disruption and unlock greater public value.
