A Closer Look: Sports Programming
Rethinking Value Beyond the Live Window
In the evolving economics of streaming, sports content occupies a unique position. Unlike scripted titles, which follow demand arcs shaped by discovery and virality, live sports commands real-time attention—but often at a steep cost. Yet the full value of sports programming isn’t just in the game itself—it’s in how platforms leverage that engagement to retain and activate fans across the calendar.
Sports as a Retention Anchor
Live events generate powerful short-term spikes in viewership, but their long term ROI depends on how well that momentum is carried into the off-season. This is where sports-adjacent programming—like docuseries, athlete profiles, and behind-the-scenes content—comes into play. These titles sustain fandom, reduce churn, and deepen the emotional connection to a platform.
The value of sports content isn’t limited to live viewership—it’s what keeps fans coming back when the stadium lights are off.
Case in point: Drive to Survive on Netflix
Though Netflix doesn’t stream live Formula 1 races, Drive to Survive has significantly expanded F1’s global reach. The series has introduced millions to the sport and kept fans engaged during the off-season, making it a strong retention tool.
According to Parrot Analytics, the show consistently delivers above-average retention value, especially with its timely seasonal drops. It has helped grow F1’s fanbase in new markets like the U.S., while also strengthening Netflix’s catalog with globally appealing, repeatable content that supports long-term subscriber loyalty.
Maximizing the Value of Sports Content
The success of “Drive to Survive” has clearly made Netflix even more bullish on Formula 1. It was recently reported that the company is thinking of bidding for the sport’s US live broadcast rights. For platforms looking to tap into sports audiences, documentary sports content is a way of doing this without having to pay the big dollars for the rights to live sports.
Even if the sports docuseries genre has not performed as well on other platforms as it has on Netflix, the relatively lower cost of producing documentary series compared with the high cost of live sports rights make these an appealing investment for streamers looking to attract and retain sports fans on their platform.
Sports Role in Streaming Economics
Acquisition: Premier events (e.g. championship finals or tentpole docs) drive new subscriber sign-ups.
Retention: Serialized docs and league-related formats help reduce churn by sustaining off-season engagement.
Strategic Extension: Franchises like Drive to Survive demonstrate how rights adjacent content can amplify a platform’s brand without the cost of live rights
Netflix Sets the Benchmark for Sports Docs’ ROI
Netflix and Hulu are the only platforms where sports documentaries’ share of subscriber revenue outpaces its share of catalog. This is largely driven by high performing outliers like “Drive to Survive” and “Welcome to Wrexham”. Across all platforms 0.72%of titles available to stream are sports docuseries and these are responsible for0.74%of streaming revenue (i.e. roughly even performance).
However, if you exclude Netflix, the global supply share across the other seven platforms is 0.75%, with revenue share at 0.56%, highlighting that other platforms have not yet figured out how to make the genre deliver in the same way as Netflix.
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>> Read Part 7: Executing on the New Economics of Content
