Hub Entertainment Research’s study reveals that the fragmented streaming landscape in the US is creating significant frustration

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Hub Entertainment Research has released its ‘Evolution of Sports: What’s the Score?’, report, which says the growing number of services focusing on sports in the US is making this content harder for fans to find.

The survey of 3,733 US sports fans was conducted December 2025-January 2026.

Most sports fans (87%) surveyed say it’s at least somewhat frustrating to figure out where to watch the sports they follow today, and almost a quarter saying they feel “very frustrated.”

Aggregator tools are making this discovery easier. 70% said ESPN’s “Where to Watch” feature – which tells viewers where to find any game, even if it’s not on ESPN – would make their sports viewing experience easier.

Similarly, 60% said the same about Roku’s “Sports Zone”, which gathers content about a particular sport into one place, so fans can easily find all of it across platforms.

The report shows that fragmentation is increasing the appeal of platforms that consolidate rights to an entire sport.

60% of fans say they’re more likely to sign up for a service that carries all the rights to a sport they follow (and 30% are “much more likely”).

As an example, the UFC’s new rights deal places all UFC events across Paramount’s networks and streaming platforms.

89% of avid UFC fans say the new deal makes a Paramount+ subscription more valuable. And 93% of avid UFC fans that already have Paramount+ say the new deal makes them more likely to keep their subscription.

For UFC fans who don’t have Paramount+ already, 72% say they’re more likely to sign up.

“Fans will go to great lengths to watch the sports they care about—but that doesn’t mean they enjoy hunting across multiple apps to find them,” said Jon Giegengack, principal at Hub and one of the study authors. “Services that simplify the experience of watching sports—whether through discovery tools or by consolidating rights to an entire sport—are delivering more value to fans.  And more value means more satisfied users and lower churn.”