Survey finds sports fans abandon platforms due to streaming failures

A survey of 1,000 US sports fans by Lumenalta (The Digital Sports Fan Playbook) has revealed that streaming failures, slow apps and disjointed channels undermine trust faster than ever before.

Furthermore, fans now expect personalisation at “game speed”, and reward it with engagement, spending, and long-term loyalty.

The survey covers fan experiences across streaming platforms, mobile apps, social channels, and in-stadium tech.

Loyalty rewards are the most requested feature by fans (65.6%), and fans also highly value early access to games/events (46.6%), personalised experiences/gifts (43.4%), and limited/signed merchandise (41.2%).

App crashes (39.7%) and streaming lags (37.8%) are the top reasons fans abandon a platform mid-game.

Fans use 8+ touchpoints per game. This is led by a smart TV (80.3%), social media (63.3%), team/league app (50.0%), and desktop computer (49.7%), which shows a demand for seamless, connected experiences.

70% of fans would pay for personalised experiences – over half would pay $10+ monthly; over 80% of fans would be more likely to buy merchandise, tickets, or subscriptions when the experience is more individually tailored.

For example, Detroit Pistons (NBA basketball) achieved a 4x revenue lift and 3x high conversions across email and digital channels through blending fan names, ticket histories, favourite players, and real-time highlights into dynamic video campaigns 

Brands, teams, and leagues that invest in reliable, real-time connected experiences are the ones that will keep fans around and actually grow long-term, consistent loyalty and revenue.