Fox News poll: Majorities of sports fans, non-fans favor keeping major events on free broadcast TV
Major U.S. sports leagues have increasingly licensed games to streaming services in recent years. The NFL streams its Thursday Night Football games exclusively on Amazon Prime Video under an 11-year deal that began in 2023.[1][2] The NBA agreed in July 2024 to an 11-year media rights package starting with the 2025-26 season that includes national games on Amazon Prime Video and Peacock.[3][4]
A Fox News national survey of 1,001 registered voters conducted March 20-23, 2026, found that 72% of sports fans and 60% of non-fans believe major sporting events should remain on free broadcast television rather than behind streaming paywalls.[5]
| Group | Stay on free TV | Allow shift to streaming |
|---|---|---|
| Sports fans | 72% | 27% |
| Non-fans | 60% | 38% |
Nearly 6 in 10 sports fans said they skipped watching a game at least a few times in the past year because it was too expensive to access, including about one-third who said this happened many times.[5]
Nearly half of sports fans (47%) reported skipping games because they were too difficult to find or access, while 46% said they had done so only rarely or never.[5]
Seventy-three percent of registered voters in the survey identified as sports fans.[5]
The survey was conducted under the direction of Beacon Research (D) and Shaw & Company Research (R). It included interviews with 104 respondents on landlines, 641 on cellphones, and 256 online after text invitation. The margin of sampling error is ±3 percentage points for the full sample, ±3.5 points among sports fans, and ±6 points among non-fans.[5]
Sources
- NFL, "NFL, Amazon Prime Video announce Thursday Night Football will be exclusively on Prime Video for 2022 season", May 13, 2021, https://www.nfl.com/pressrelease/nfl-amazon-prime-video-announce-thursday-night-football-will-be-exclusively-on-prime-video-for-2022-season
- Reuters, "Amazon Prime Video lands exclusive rights to NFL's Thursday Night Football", May 13, 2021, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-nfl-amazon-com/amazon-prime-video-lands-exclusive-rights-to-nfls-thursday-night-football-idUSKBN2CY2Q5
- NBA, "NBA reaches long-term media agreements with The Walt Disney Company, NBCUniversal and Amazon", July 24, 2024, https://www.nba.com/news/nba-media-rights-agreements-2024
- Associated Press, "NBA agrees to terms on a new 11-year media rights deal", July 24, 2024, https://apnews.com/article/nba-tv-rights-deal-disney-amazon-nbc-c6a5c3e80d8e2b3f0f3b4e1a9b2c3d4
- Fox News, "Sports fans want major events on free TV, poll finds", March 25, 2026, https://www.foxnews.com/politics/fox-news-poll-sports-streaming-paywalls
