About half of the US say they are sports fan, meaning that they follow sports “at least somewhat closely”. Only 17 per cent are super fans, defined as people who say they follow sports “very or extremely closely”, according to a survey by The Associated Press-NORC.

About four in 10 fans use sports-only streaming platforms such as ESPN+, MLB TV, NFL Sunday Ticket or NBA League Pass, including six in 10 super fans. Only 6 per cent of non-fans say they subscribe to these streaming platforms.

Three in 10 sports fans watch a game at least a few times a week and another four in 10 tune into a game at least once a month. About half of superfans watch a game several times a week and another four in 10 watch at least monthly.

Few non-fans watch games regularly. Only about 6 per cent of sports fans say they did not see a game in the past year, compared with about half of non-fans.

Overall, the public tends to watch clips or highlights of sports events at a similar rate as full games. Though just 6 per cent of super fans skip the clips and highlights. Men are more likely than women to watch the games or highlights.

Among sports fans who use any television or streaming services, 50 per cent are satisfied with the availability of sports events they want to watch, while 26 per cent are dissatisfied.  Twenty-four per cent of sports fans are neither satisfied nor dissatisfied with the availability of sports on television.

Overall, 40 per cent of the public have subscribed to a streaming service for a specific show or sports season. About a third of the public have cancelled their subscription after that show or season ended. A third say they have shared a password or used someone else’s, but few have cancelled a service because of password restrictions.

Compared to non-sports fans, fans are more likely to sign up for specific programming on streaming services and more likely to cancel their subscription when the programming is over.

The nationwide poll was conducted in August 2025, using the AmeriSpeak Panel, the probability-based panel of NORC at the University of Chicago.

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Categories: Articles, Consumer Behaviour, OTT, Pay TV, Research

Tags: ESPN, MLB, NBA, sports, usa