More free streaming channels have jumped into the game serving up sports content, with the number of FAST sports channels available more than doubling since mid-2024. But as live sports shift to FAST, platforms are likely to favor exclusivity – marking a different approach to distribution than is typical for other types of FAST content.
The takeaway comes from a new FAST report from Nielsen’s Gracenote, which found notable growth in the number of available sports-focused FAST channels alongside increases in total FAST channels. Per the report, the number of available active FAST channels increased 42% globally since the middle of 2023. Of the more than 1,610 currently active FAST channels, 73% are in the U.S.
And while reality TV takes the crown for FAST genre that saw the most robust growth in channels since last July, the increase in FAST sports channels is also notable. The number of sports channels on FAST surged by more than 105% from mid-2024 until February 2025. Based on channel count, sports now represent the No. 2 FAST genre (only behind entertainment) with 220 channels and 3,797 program titles. That’s up from just 107 sports FAST channels in July 2024.
Live sports distribution favors exclusivity
Unlike SVODs, where exclusivity is part of the appeal for some content, the usual distribution strategy for content owners on FAST is different, favoring non-exclusivity, where the same channel and content can often be found on multiple platforms. This includes sports channels that offer shoulder or sports-related content. For example, the NFL, MLB and PGA Tour channels can each be found on Paramount’s Pluto TV, Fox’s Tubi and The Roku Channel. Comparatively, Gracenote said across five global SVODs, 93% of content is exclusive to one of these providers.
But as live sports make their way to FAST, Gracenote doesn’t expect the non-exclusive nature to stick, where content owners and free streaming platforms are more likely to want to keep the premium stuff solely for themselves or a limited number of others.
“Live sports is the next wave of content in the FAST space, and content owners will likely approach the distribution of live sports programming much more narrowly than they do with game replays and highlights,” wrote Gracenote in the report. “Unlike in SVOD, however, the programming will be free, and we’re already starting to see this take shape.”
In February, for example, Fox offered what’s arguably sports biggest event in the U.S. – the NFL Super Bowl – for free on Tubi. It received positive reviews for latency and quality of the free livestream of the Philadelphia Eagles beating out the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX on Tubi, which delivered a 13.6 million average minute audience and peaked at 15.5 million concurrent streams.
And there have been other efforts on the sports front with FAST, with Gracenote, as of February 2025 recording 118 individual FAST channels that feature team sports events. Still, not all of these broadcast live events, where some air game replays and only some offer live matchups.
In expanding sports programming on FAST Roku last August on The Roku Channel FAST platform launched its dedicated premium Roku Sports Channel, which is home to live Sunday morning MLB match ups, Formula E races and sports-themed Roku Originals produced with major leagues. At the start of the year, Roku also picked up live X Games events for its FAST service.
E.W. Scripps, meanwhile, has two women’s sports franchise nights and airs live games from the WNBA on its ION FAST channel.
In other examples of sports content on FAST, last September the FAST service Free Live Sports debuted, offering over a hundred channels with content like Foosball TV, ACL Cornhole and others. And individual channels, such as those from startup C15 Studio, have joined FAST platforms in the past year. C15 counts channels for specific participant and spectator sports including Formula 1 racing, One Championship, Triton Poker Series and Professional Squash Association. For F1, C15’s FAST channel does offer live races, but they’re replays on a five-day delay (ESPN still holds F1 racing rights in the U.S. and the sport also has a direct-to-consumer paid offering). It also offers programming around the sport and from prior race weekends, such as free practice, qualifers, and pre- and post-race shows.
“There’s a tremendous amount of content, programming that comes out of a race weekend in Formula 1,” C15 CEO Joe Nilsson told StreamTV Insider in an interview last year, noting they can start on a Thursday or Friday and fans then have a chance to catch up on what they missed or binge event content.
Similar to many FAST content owners in other genres, C15 isn’t seeking exclusive distribution for its sports-related content and channels are already available on the likes of Samsung TV Plus and Pluto TV.
Engagement, content discovery strategies needed for FAST
In its report, Gracenote noted that an abundance of non-exclusive content “mutes the distinct value propositions of the individual channels and their value within the platforms they’re distributed to.”
In this sense, live sports are one way to differentiate for FASTs, but the genre isn’t expected any time soon to make up a significant proportion of programming on free streaming, which is currently dominated by the entertainment genre.
“Distribution strategies will be tighter for live sports, but other program types will remain in much greater supply for the foreseeable future,” Gracenote continued. “As a result, individual platforms will need strategies to attract and keep audiences given that most content is widely available.”
Part of that involves the content discovery aspect, which is needed among so many channel options in FAST.
“Amid the many [content] options available, FAST has gained favorability among audiences, especially those who don’t pay for cable and viewers who are looking to cut back on their SVOD subscriptions,” wrote Gracenote. “That doesn’t mean, however, that content discovery in FAST isn’t a challenge.”
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Nielsen-owned Gracenote unit called out content metadata – something it provides products and services for - as an aspect that can help with this.
Metadata provides program-level attributes about content that can help improve recommendations and content discovery tools – including by aligning with viewers’ preferences and tastes - but metadata information is often missing and isn’t standardized across platforms. In one example of how metadata can serve content discovery, last year Gracenote introduced a new dataset dubbed Watch Prompts, which complements its basic metadata and video descriptors products. Watch Prompts are meant to boost audience engagement and tune-in by delivering factoids and relatable comparisons about content – hoping to pique viewer interest and influence decisions on what to watched as its paired with platforms’ viewer preference and consumption behavior data.
Improved and standardized metadata could also be useful in the fragmented sports ecosystem, potentially helping to surface recommendations if paired with viewer information about sport or team preferences or help drive personalized tune-in for particular sports programming.
Aside from FAST, major streamers too have been bringing sports into the mix - including NFL games and NBA rights – as they look to attract, engage and retain users. Separate recent research from Hub Entertainment illustrated some positive sentiment in terms of consumer willingness and comfortability with viewing following sports to streaming.
In 2024 only 23% of consumers said streaming was their first stop or “home base” for live sports content, far behind that of cable and broadcast. But just one year later that figure rose to 30% of respondents saying SVODs are their first stop for live game - marking a major gain and putting streaming on par with cable (31%) and broadcast (29%).
Still, while the Gracenote report found FAST usage is increasing, Hub’s survey highlighted just how far free streaming has to go before it’s considered a destination for live sports – as just 2% of respondents cited FAST as the first stop for game action, actually marking a decline from the 3% that said so in January 2024.
