While leagues and broadcasters doubled down on digital streaming this year, the vast majority of sports fans continued to pay for cable television. But their loyalty to cable may be waning as fans discover alternative ways to watch live sporting events.
In a poll of consumer viewing habits taken this October by PwC, 81 percent of sports fans said they subscribed to Pay TV in 2017. That was higher than the 73 percent of participants overall who identified as Pay TV subscribers, which was down from 76 percent in 2016.
However, fans said they’d willing to trim down on cable packages or cut the cord altogether if they no longer needed Pay TV to access live sporting events, according to PwC, which surveyed nearly 2,000 Americans ages 18 to 59 with annual household incomes above $40,000.