2 in 5 Sports Fans Skipped Subscriptions in Favor of These Hacks

Sports fans want even more streaming flexibility

According to a recent CableTV.com survey of sports fans, “In the past year, 41.7% have bought a single-game TV pass or pay-per-view event, while 40.7% say they’d prefer paying per game or event over a monthly subscription.”

Not surprising, considering the same survey found that 66.7% of sports fans would drop their TV provider in a heartbeat to save $20 per month due to multiple TV subscriptions and high monthly bills.

In contrast, streaming services like Netflix and Paramount+ continue to capitalize on live sporting events to drive subscriptions, especially in sports that served as traditional pay-per-view (PPV) bastions like pro wrestling and boxing. (Remember those Jake Paul “fights” on Netflix?)

Similarly, the NFL has embraced streaming platforms such as Prime Video, Netflix, and YouTube TV over the past five years. This shift has increased “the number of bidders for various pieces of league broadcasting rights, and in turn, has helped elevate the league’s rights fees,” according to Front Office Sports.

Recent data from CableTV.com, however, suggests fans are paying too much for live sports on TV. With multiple, costly subscriptions, sports diehards keep looking for workarounds like single-game passes and PPVs to save money.

But are these single-event hacks worth it?

Streaming services move to capture more audience and profits

Let’s start with the ever-shrinking footprint of PPV events. Chuck Mindenhall for Uncrowned described the state of PPV succinctly: “The writing has been on the wall for a long time that PPVs could be on the way out. The WWE, which is run by the same TKO ownership group as the UFC, came to that conclusion a couple of years back.”

Likewise, as Reddit user Lopsided-Tea-2586 exclaimed in a thread from this summer: “Boxing charging PPV for mediocre fights is untenable in the modern day,” and then continued that fans “can go pay $10 a month for Paramount and watch every single UFC card for a fraction of the cost of following boxing.”

This is 99% true. After Paramount Skydance acquired UFC broadcasting rights for $7.7 billion last year, combat sports fans now get 13 UFC “marquee” events for as little as $8 per month, saving the average customer around $70 per event.

It begs the question, though: if you’re the UFC or a streaming service, why pass on all that fast cash from a $70–$90 PPV event?

As reported by ESPN, Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison said live sporting event partnerships like the Paramount-UFC deal are “driving engagement, subscriber growth, and long-term loyalty.” Long answer short: long-term growth and steady revenue.

So, at over $70 per event, traditional PPV is a ripoff for fans, and subscriptions help media companies meet shareholder demands for growth. Sounds like a win-win, right?

As we reported previously, however, the only problem with that is streaming subscriptions can add up and cost a ton of money for the average fan over the long haul. So, as a rabid sports fanatic, you may be asking yourself, are there any alternatives?

Some streamers are moving to cheaper alternatives

Even though most TV giants have failed to read the tea leaves on fan flexibility and affordability, a few compelling options still exist.

In particular, one major American sports league currently offers single-game and team passes: the NBA. Eighty-two regular- season games is a lot to keep up with, so why not allow fans the choice to tune in for key matchups and rivalry games and make a little extra dough along the way? Unfortunately for fans, other popular leagues like the NFL and MLB still haven’t followed suit.

Also, according to recent research by our CableTV.com Sports Editor, Taylor Kujawa, some NHL teams, like the Rangers and Islanders, are offering single-game passes for around $10 per game through the streaming app DAZN (pronounced “dah zoh-nh,” kinda like “da Bears”). Cool, but now we’re headed toward traditional PPV territory in terms of affordability, no?

So, what’s the difference between single-game passes and PPV?

Great question. The answer is not much. Kujawa breaks it down like this: “A single-game pass is essentially a pay-per-view purchase for one game. The distinction is what you’re buying.”

And I would clarify: one regular-season game, as opposed to a playoff or championship game or prize fight. High stakes and potential viewership factor into the distinction, but single-game passes are really just another type of PPV.

What’s a streaming day pass?

Currently, Sling TV offers the only “day pass” viewing option on the market, and it comes in three timestamped flavors: single-day, weekend, and week-long passes without a monthly or annual subscription.

Quoting Kujawa again: “It’s thematically similar” to a single-game pass or PPV event, “but also quite more expansive, as you could watch multiple live events in a single 24-hour time span.” For our money, unless an event is paywalled, we say this is the hack every sports fan needs to keep in their back pocket.

In a press release from a little over a year ago, Sling TV Senior Vice President Seth Van Sickel said: “Built for the way people actually watch TV today, our new passes put viewers in control.” PR bravado aside, we agree.

We reached out to Sling TV and its sister company DISH Network for further comment on how the streaming service and fans have responded to this major disruption in the subscription TV market. But we have yet to hear from the companies, probably because of continuing litigation with Disney (ESPN’s parent company) over the passes.

What fans are saying about day passes

On Reddit, sports fans are enthusiastic about Sling TV Day Passes. In a thread posted earlier this year, one Reddit user said, “The day passes are awesome,” while another added, “I love it! I have access to everything except ESPN network games, so it comes in handy for some weekend games.” (Take that, Disney!)

While some fans have complained about Sling TV’s billing inconsistencies, we haven’t been able to corroborate those claims, which seem minor compared to the overall value day passes offer.

Either way, we think Sling TV Day Passes are a fantastic hack, for now, and well worth checking out.

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