The FAST marketplace has evolved significantly over the last few years. We have seen a steady improvement in the quality of channels as major broadcasters and studios have moved in to a market originally occupied by smaller independent players, niche service providers and digital publishers. The scripted and unscripted entertainment channels have seen significant change as these higher tier operators have launched new services and now it seems that sports is poised to become the next frontier, with major sports brands beginning to have a greater presence in the market.
FAST initially was characterised by older content libraries and lower value content, and for sports it provided a platform for niche sports to reach an audience. However FAST content is improving in quality and platforms continue to seek out high quality content to fuel their growth and retention strategies.
In a previous article, we analysed how the majority of the FAST sports market is dominated by combat, automotive, and niche sports. However, we’re now witnessing a shift, especially in the US, as major leagues like the NBA, MLB, NFL, and NHL license and curate their own channels for the market. While these channels may not feature live games, especially in their domestic markets, they offer a substantial amount of shoulder content.
In the US, we can observe how a significant portion of sports channels are now being provided or licensed by major sports leagues and brands. Tubi, one of the most successful FAST platforms, has 60% of its sports channels from top-tier providers. Notably, these channels are prominently featured at the top of Tubi’s EPG, with the sports category ranking second, just behind News.
When examining some of the most prominent examples, we can observe that the major leagues are primarily utilising FAST as a means to leverage archived footage. Regardless of the business objectives of the channels - advertising revenues, promotion, premium upsell etc. - it is evident that the deep catalogue of programming that they are able to tap into is now providing a fresh source of value.
Most of the channels opt to present a diverse range of content, including renowned and historical replays, recent match highlights and recaps, as well as supplementary content such as documentaries and interviews, all under their brand umbrella.
It will also be interesting to see how these leagues will evolve their FAST strategies in the coming years, both in terms of content creation and distribution. Currently, the US major leagues are choosing to primarily keep their FAST offerings within their own borders, providing complimentary content to their domestic audience where their value is highest. However, there may be more potential for international expansion in the future, generating increased interest and popularity globally. Notably, the MLB stands as the sole major league in the US that significantly distributes abroad.
Coming out of Europe the English Premier League and UEFA Champions League have FAST channels but these are only available on US-based services, a factor determined by the control of rights in the home market. La Liga however is the only European-specific league that distributes within Europe, in this case only within its own local market.
While the current content offerings are limited, there is now potential to distribute sports on a multi market basis with FAST. Although major leagues are unlikely to relinquish live rights to FAST services domestically, considering the rights value equation, control will likely remain with the primary rights holder, which is unlikely to be a FAST service at this point. However, it’s more probable that they will explore their options in other global markets.
As sports continue to be a key differentiator and FAST grows its presence and its content budgets it will be interesting to see how far platforms are willing to go to participate in such discussions. When might FAST platforms begin to get involved in rights discussions, whether starting small with lower tier properties, limited live matches, highlights rights etc… or jumping in at the deep end with full schedules of live matches? It may be some time before top tier live rights go directly to FAST, but as we have seen with the sports streaming marketplace over the last few years it is getting the attention of all streamers across the globe.
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