Live Sports Is Driving Innovation in Ad-Tech
If 2024 was the year of live-streaming sports, 2025 is the year of live-streaming ad innovation. With massive audiences that continue to steal from traditional TV, advertisers are looking for new opportunities to reach massive live audiences digitally. Media companies are working hard to offer the TV advertising experience of the future. That future will include new forms of targeting, interactivity, creative ad formats, and much more.
The pace of innovation will be dictated by a combination of factors that balance advertiser demand with media company strategy. Media companies from traditional and digital roots know that they not only need smart partnerships with sports franchises, they need a unified business that helps brands reach audiences effectively while maximizing their own growth goals.
Collaboration Between Streamers and Sports is Just Beginning
Streaming sports took the world by storm last year, with the Olympics streaming on Peacock, the largest ever streamed Superbowl audience, and more than 100 million people watching live events digitally in the US for the first time. This year, streaming will continue to capture bigger audiences, which means media companies are leaning into new partnerships, especially with the biggest sports franchises including the NFL and the NBA.
Media companies from both traditional and digital backgrounds are dreaming big. NBCU and Walmart announced a shop-while-streaming partnership over Thanksgiving weekend in 2024 that enabled viewers to shop for products from a QR code on screen. The goal of tying CPG sales to TV viewing is the holy grail that many advertisers hope to reach with streaming.
During their first ever Up Front presentation last May, Amazon announced an eleven-season deal with the NBA, giving them rights as the first exclusive streaming partner. The announcement featured Amazon’s digital advertising capabilities including a highly measurable full-funnel approach that entices brands looking to drive purchase and incremental lift, not just brand awareness, from live sports.