Fragmentation is killing the sports fan
The World Cup broke records, yet 41% of fans still couldn't find it.
“In a way, fragmentation has killed the TV sports fan. You can’t just be a sports fan anymore.”
Giles Tongue, VP Marketing, Bango
Strong claim but he brought data to back it up. Bango indeed released a survey of 2,500 Americans on how they watch sport. It was the perfect opportunity to study fragmentation live with the three US distributors of the World Cup in the mix.
So what do we learn about Americans & sports streaming:
→ 64% of Americans now pay for sports streaming;
→ 41% of them couldn’t work out where to watch the World Cup (I argue on the interview it could be because they’re new to proper football so didn’t know where to look 😁);
→ Nearly half said they’d missed a match because they couldn’t find where it was streaming, with a chunk deciding piracy was the answer instead.
→ Finally, younger fans would rather watch the highlights than the live game. The clip phenomenon which I suspect actually spread to many demos during this edition given the number of games and the late night programming for the rest of the world.
We couldn’t stay clear of Netflix’s recent move. Six years after killing free trials, they’re testing them again in select markets. Giles reads why the most distributed streamer in the world suddenly wants the trial mechanic back and where he thinks it goes next.
Which brings us to the bit I often care about most. Over 90% of specialist SVOD in the US now sells through indirect channels and Omdia puts telco and non-telco bundling at around 30% of subscriptions. Giles makes the case that loyalty has moved to the IP and to whoever curates it, away from the streamer itself.
That reframes who holds the power in a bundle but still leaves one problem nobody has solved yet: the "what's on and where”.
Giles Tongue will be on stage during SME Live on 10 September in Amsterdam. We’ll be talking about the rise of new kinds of bundlers. Come find us.
Grab more sports stats here and then watch our full conversation 👇🏻
That’s it for today but before you go:
🎤 Session spotlight
“AI is only as good as what it knows” with Jon Block, founder of Syllepsis
Your competitor has the exact same AI models you do. You're also both getting the same generic output from them. Bland copy, no feel for what makes you different, zero clue about your audience or how you actually work.
What’s the fix? During Streaming Made Easy Live 2026, Jon Block (founder of Syllepsis) is going to show us what happens when your institutional knowledge gets structured into something the AI can actually reason over. If you've ever gotten AI output that was technically correct and strategically hollow, come watch this one.
Jon's demo is part of our AI in Action sessions, running from 1pm to 2pm: live looks at what AI can actually do for media and streaming businesses right now.
Early bird has closed but for the next 2 weeks only, buyer badges are €449 excl. VAT (back to €499 after Aug 10). Readers of SME get 15% off on all passes here.
