With the collapse of the traditional cable bundle and the rise of streaming-first sports consumption; networks, teams, and leagues are facing existential questions about how to reach fans—and how to monetize them. This article breaks down the economic forces behind cord-cutting, the power shift toward streaming platforms, and the high-stakes consequences for sports media.
Key Takeaways:
-Cord-cutting has critically undermined the pay-TV model, with U.S. cable subscriptions plummeting from 100.5 million in 2014 to 69.8 million in 2024
-Fans are leaving pay-TV not just because it’s expensive, but because sports content is more accessible than ever on streaming platforms—both subscription-based (SVOD) and free ad-supported (FAST).
-Sports networks are caught in a financial bind: they rely heavily on carriage fees from cable, but rising sports rights costs and shrinking TV audiences are pushing them toward streaming. To stay relevant, they must embrace new technologies and distribution models that meet fans on their terms.
In late January, Congressman Pat Ryan, who represents New York's 18th District, and Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy introduced a bill that every sports fan in the U.S. would get behind.
Under the proposed legislation, dubbed the “Stop Sports Blackouts Act,” cable and satellite companies would be required to refund subscribers for blackouts that occur due to carriage disputes. To underscore the importance of the bill, the two congressmen pointed out that between 2010 and 2014, New York consumers experienced 100 television blackouts, resulting in 3,350 days of disrupted viewing.
The proliferation of carriage disputes is not accidental. According to Chris Winfrey, CEO of Charter Communications, one of the largest cable operators in the U.S. via its brand name Spectrum, these disputes are a result of a fundamental shift in the economics of television that has rendered the pay-TV business model “broken.”
The shift in the economics of the industry has been fueled by cord-cutting—a growing movement of consumers opting to cancel their pay TV subscriptions in favor of streaming services. The evolution of cord-cutting is well documented. Here are some numbers from the U.S.:
-In 2014, 100.5 million U.S. homes paid for a cable bundle; in 2024, that number shrank to 69.8 million
-Between 2020 and 2024, 35% of subscribers to a legacy cable, satellite, or telco-TV package have cut the cord
-Annual subscriber losses for traditional Pay TV are expected to worsen, with optimistic forecasts suggesting there will be 29.4 million subscribers in the U.S. in 2030
Cord-cutting, needless to say, is not just an American phenomenon. New data from Digital TV Research, which covers global media developments, reveals that the number of pay-TV subscribers in Western Europe is projected to fall by 8% between 2023 and 2029. Per the report, Germany will lose 2.7 million subs during this period, with the UK (2 million lost subs), Italy (1.5 million), and France (1.1 million) completing the top 4 losers.
Sports Without the Bundle: Why Fans Are Abandoning Pay-TV
The main reason for cord-cutting, regardless of geography, is that pay-TV has become too expensive for many consumer; particularly compared to cheaper subscription video on demand (SVOD) services. In the U.S., for instance, nearly one in five cable subscribers report paying over $200 per month for their service. As of early 2025, the average cost of cable TV was $147, of $10 to $20 monthly from most major providers in 2024.
The second factor in the exodus of pay-TV consumers is that they no longer need cable to watch what they're interested in. That's especially true when it comes to sports. According to a recent report, Nielsen’s content data business unit, the industry’s leading SVOD services—Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+, Disney+, Netflix, and Paramount+—have collectively increased sports programming by more than 72% in the last quarter of 2024.
Free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) platforms—like Pluto TV, Roku Channel, and Tubi—have also joined the fray, increasing their live sports hours by 65% in 2024. Tubi TV even aired Super Bowl LIX. “The fact that the Super Bowl was live on Tubi and generated 13 million viewers,” said Cathy Rasenberger, co-founder of media consulting firm Rasenberger Media, “indicates there is a large audience who want to get sports content on free streaming platforms."
The Carriage Fee Conundrum: Sports Networks Caught in a Pricing Paradox
This poses a challenge for sports networks, which are highly dependent on carriage fees. In 2023, for example, six sports-affiliated networks in the U.S. made more than $1 billion in carriage fees. To make matters more complicated, sports rights are only getting more expensive, as new bidders—led by SVOD services like Amazon, Apple, and Netflix—drive up the prices of live events.
“Streaming is absolutely critical as a complement to distribution on broadcast and cable,” said Lee Berke, a broadcast industry analyst and consultant. “From a team standpoint or a league standpoint, if you’re going to get younger demos, your next generation of fans, you’ve got to be able to reach them on streaming.”
As sports networks try to navigate the changing landscape, one thing is clear: adjusting to it entails the use of new technologies. “While the cord-cutting movement has led to significant growing pains,” writes Ryan Cassella, a managing producer for WWE and an adjunct professor at Fairfield University, “media makers can utilize evolving technology for the content flexibility the modern viewer craves—and capture new audiences.”
The next article in this series will detail the challenges of regional sports networks (RSNs) in the streaming era, their impact on sports teams in the U.S., and how the new media environment is shaping the business models of all these players.
