Disney+ and Netflix drive major increase in streaming sports

The availability of sports programming on global subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) platforms has increased significantly, with four of the five major services expanding their offerings, according to new data from Gracenote.

Gracenote’s latest Data Hub update, released Feb. 26, 2025, shows a 72% quarter-over-quarter increase in sports content across Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+, Disney+, Netflix and Paramount+. The growth highlights the role of live sports in attracting and retaining subscribers, as streaming services continue investing in real-time events.

Disney+ saw the largest increase, adding 471% more sports content, largely due to the integration of select ESPN programming. Netflix also nearly doubled its sports offerings, growing by 100%. While Apple TV+ did not expand its sports catalog in the past quarter, upcoming Major League Soccer (MLS) and Major League Baseball (MLB) seasons are expected to boost its sports content.

The surge in sports programming has reshaped the distribution among streaming services.

Disney+ now accounts for nearly 33% of available sports content, up from previous quarters, trailing Amazon Prime Video, which holds 35%. Previously, Amazon distributed 54% of sports content among these platforms.

Netflix now provides just over 23% of the total sports programming available across the five services.

Beyond sports, the five SVOD services increased their total content offerings by 6.7% in the past quarter. Movies and TV shows grew by 7.6% and 5.4%, respectively, with approximately 3,000 movies, 2,000 TV series and 500 sports programs added.

Amazon Prime Video remains the largest distributor of streaming content, now offering nearly 69% of all available programming, up from 67.8% a year ago.

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“Live sports programming continues to be an important driver of user growth, retention and engagement for streaming services,” said Bill Michels, chief product officer at Gracenote. “We are also seeing that relevant metadata, such as synopses, scores, highlights and imagery, have the power to help streamers build world-class user experiences that keep users engaged beyond the live game.”

Gracenote provides metadata covering more than 40 million titles across 260 streaming catalogs in over 80 countries. The company updates its Data Hub quarterly to track changes in SVOD programming, with future reports expected to include additional TV market insights.