Nearly three-quarters of advertisers (73%) plan to put money into live sports streaming and CTV ads over the next 6–12 months, according to new research from Premion and Advertiser Perceptions, as more fans watch live sports on streaming platforms.
Agency demand is stronger still: 79% of agencies say they will invest, compared with 65% of marketers.
The top reason is audience engagement. Six in 10 advertisers (61%) say reaching highly engaged sports fans during live events is a leading driver of investment. More than half (52%) also want to capitalize on major sporting events that draw large audiences.
Advertisers also want more from those buys. The study found demand for better measurement, stronger proof of ROI, and simpler ways to buy across a fragmented sports marketplace.
“Live sports continues to deliver something incredibly valuable for advertisers: passionate audiences showing up in real time,” said Blake Hebert, head of publisher operations at Premion. “As more sports viewing moves to streaming, advertisers want to capture that engagement with greater precision, accountability and local relevance. The opportunity now is to make live sports easier to access, measure and prove across an increasingly fragmented landscape.”
Other motives include brand association and reach. Forty-one percent cite aligning with premium live sports content, 40% want to extend linear TV campaigns, and 37% want to reach streaming-first or cord-cutting sports fans.
Measurement priorities follow the same local, proof-oriented bent. Fifty-seven percent of advertisers rank audience delivery and geographic reporting down to the local market among their most important capabilities—higher than any other metric tested—signaling they want confirmation they reached the right fans in the markets that matter.