Sports programming on major SVOD platforms rising year-over-year

Sports programming across the top five subscription video-on-demand platforms increased 52% year over year, according to new data from Gracenote.

The findings, released in the latest update to the “Gracenote Data Hub,” reflect growth in sports offerings at the individual game and event level across Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, Disney+, Netflix and Paramount+. Overall catalog volume across the five services grew 20% compared with January 2025.

Taking episodes into account, including games and sports events, sports content rose 52% year over year. TV shows increased 20%, movies 21% and sports programs 12.5% across the services.

Paramount+ recorded the largest gain in sports programming, with a 219% increase year over year. Following its acquisition of UFC broadcast rights from ESPN beginning in January 2026, the service now offers more than twice the sports content of any other SVOD platform. During the same period, Disney+ saw its sports catalog decline 23%.

U.S.-produced programming accounted for 41.9% of available content across the five leading SVOD platforms, down from 44.7% a year earlier. While the volume of U.S.-produced titles increased, it did not keep pace with international growth.

Japanese content more than doubled its share of overall programming, rising from 3% in January 2025 to 6.1% a year later. The total volume of Japanese titles increased 146% to 6,578, with Amazon Prime Video showing the largest gain. Japan became the fourth-largest production country on Prime Video, after the U.S., Great Britain and India.

On Netflix, South Korean programming represented 9.8% of the catalog, up from 8.1% a year earlier, making it the platform’s second-largest production country. Japanese content accounted for 9.5% of Netflix’s catalog, up from 6.5%. U.S.-produced titles made up 31.9% of Netflix’s catalog, the lowest proportion among the leading SVOD providers.

Free ad-supported streaming television platforms also expanded. Gracenote reported that the number of FAST channels in its database increased nearly 27% year over year to 2,063.

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Sports programming on FAST channels grew 30% year over year, while news programming increased 58%. News now represents 10.8% of FAST programming, up from 8.1% a year earlier, making it the third most prevalent genre after Documentary and Drama.

The number of TV shows, sports shows and movies on FAST platforms increased 26% year over year. Sports shows rose 32%, movies 26% and TV shows 24%.

U.S.-produced programming accounted for 38% of FAST content, down from 42% a year earlier. Japanese content was the fastest-growing segment on FAST platforms, increasing by roughly one-third over the past year.