With sports fragmentation, following the fans is crucial

"Live sports remain one of the last true appointment-viewing experiences - audiences don't just tune in; they plan their schedules around it. That kind of attention is increasingly rare in modern media, and it is precisely why advertising inventory during live sports commands a premium."

"However, every new rights deal in which leagues and teams change distribution channels adds another app, another login and another siloed audience, creating a headache for buyers trying to reach fans at scale. The old sports advertising playbook, organized around rights holders and individual networks, simply doesn't work anymore."

"Why aggregation is a necessity Every major programmer is staking out their own piece of live sports rights that prioritize their own ecosystem, but what media buyers really need is a platform that puts the pieces back together. Navigating multiple walled gardens to reach the same fan base creates inefficiency and leaves significant incremental reach on the table - especially when sports accounted for 96 of the 100 most-watched shows of 2025."

"National buys alone don't reach loyal regional and local fans All sports are tribal - viewers are often devoted to specific teams and players. Regional and local sports programming delivers consistent, highly committed, in-market audiences that span nearly every MLB, NBA, NHL or other fan-favorite league. When a national streamer picks up a league deal, it gets a smattering of the marquee games, but not the deep loyalty of local leagues, the passion and commitment, the regional and civic pride or the community connection that drive the highest engagement."

Live sports remain a rare appointment-viewing experience where audiences plan schedules around games, making advertising inventory during live sports valuable. New rights deals that shift distribution into multiple apps, logins, and walled gardens create inefficiency for buyers trying to reach fans broadly. Traditional sports advertising approaches organized around rights holders and individual networks no longer work. Aggregation is needed to reunite fragmented pieces of live sports rights into a single platform so advertisers can meet fans wherever they watch. National buys alone often miss deep regional and local loyalty tied to teams, players, and community connection. Regional and local programming provides consistent, highly committed in-market audiences, and fragmentation increases their value by making them harder to reach through national streaming deals.

Read at Digiday