2025 media upfronts shed light on 2024 wins for sports networks and streamers

The GIST: Last week, broadcast networks and streamers shared a glimpse into current strategies during the 2025 Upfronts in NYC. Companies like NBC, Amazon, Netflix, and Disney all observed the same trend: It’s smart to double down on live sports because of the impressive engagement the industry generates, both from viewers and advertisers. Thank u, next.

🌎 NBCUniversal: After a successful 2024 (especially in Paris), the NBC parent is looking to host more live sports and leverage its proprietary streamer, Peacock. According to the company, 70% of NBC’s programming is live, and it's slated to own nearly 40% of all major live events through 2027.

• NBC owns rights in the NFL, the Olympic and Paralympic Games, college football and basketball, NASCAR, golf, and the EPL, not to mention its NBA and WNBA deals for next season. This pays off big for the network and its advertisers: NBC says live content drives 21% more engagement for brands.

📈 Amazon: The tech giant has seen continued success with its ad-supported tiers of Amazon Music and Prime Video. Monthly viewing hours on Prime Video are up nearly 40% YoY, and the company announced it reached over 300M users monthly across its media platforms (including Twitch), a 25M YoY increase.

• Expanding its reach makes sense considering the loyalty to the Amazon ecosystem — 88% of Prime Video’s 130M monthly viewers also shop at Amazon.com. Women’s sports fans are avid consumers, something the company emphasized in last year’s NWSL merch deal as well as media agreements with the NWSL, WNBA, and PWHL.

🥊 Netflix: The popular streamer has also seen gains on its ad-supported tier, which jumped from 70M active users in November to over 94M now. In 2025, Netflix plans to relive the success of 2024’s live sports forays, meaning more NFL Christmas Day games, WWE Raw, and a Katie Taylor–Amanda Serrano boxing rematch after the initial event drew a record 74M viewers.

• Plus, Netflix recently nabbed the U.S. rights for the 2027 and 2031 FIFA Women’s World Cup, and has doubled down on women’s soccer–focused documentary content such as Under Pressure and The ‘99ers.

🐭 Disney: At last, the ESPN parent is ready to launch ESPN’s DTC streaming service this fall for $29.99 per month while offering a whopping 47K live events annually. ESPN has leveraged streaming in recent media rights deals with Canada’s NSL and with its own internal programming like Vibe Check, the new women-led sports studio show premiering on Disney+ in June.

• Disney is now reaching 164M monthly active users on its ad-supported tier, something the company wants to take advantage of with its upcoming ESPN experience. Disney hopes its DTC offering will create new inventory opportunities for advertisers and make the viewing experience more engaging for fans with fantasy sports and social sharing. Plugged in.