Finding live sports remains frustrating and costly for many American viewers, according to a February 2026 Reviews.org survey, with nearly half struggling to locate games and over half missing them due to subscription issues.
Key findings from the report on active sports viewers include:
- 45% of viewers say they "struggle" to find the right channel or streaming service for a specific game or to follow their favorite team.
- 53% have missed a game because they lacked the necessary TV or streaming subscription.
- 27% of more frustrated fans report turning to unauthorized broadcasts (study details on this were not specified).
- 75% believe watching sports has become too expensive.
Sports fans are shifting toward virtual pay TV options, with 47% relying on services like YouTube TV, Sling TV, or Hulu + Live TV for viewing—compared to only about one-third using traditional cable or satellite.
Households with sports viewers spend an average of $122.93 per month on access: roughly $79.80 on broad pay TV (cable, live streaming, virtual) and $43.13 on on-demand streaming platforms.
The most-followed leagues among respondents are the NFL (68%), NBA (55%), Major League Baseball (54%), NCAA college football (41%), and NCAA college basketball (31%).
The survey, conducted in January 2026, included 1,000 U.S. adults via stratified sampling for national representation, with the report focusing on the 882 who identified as active sports viewers.