How Oceania’s Sports Fans Watch Today (And What It Means for Advertisers)
Live sports has long been anchored in traditional TV, and in Australia there is good reason for this. Anti-siphoning laws require significant sporting events to be available on Free-to-Air, keeping broadcast television central to the fan experience. But Nexxen’s 2025 Live Sports Report shows that streaming is booming, fans are watching across multiple platforms, and frustration with fragmented subscriptions is mounting (Campaign Brief, August 2025).
While the report primarily examines Australia, the same patterns are playing out in New Zealand.
Key Shifts in Sports Viewing
Streaming is surging but TV still matters
In Australia, live sports streaming grew 87% year-on-year across all fan types, yet 69% of fans continue to rely on traditional TV for major events (Nexxen, 2025). In New Zealand, while no general study has been released, news from Super Rugby Pacific mentions that there has been a total of 1.83 million viewers on Sky Sport and Sky Open, plus a total 19% growth in digital viewership via Sky Go and Sky Sport Now.
This highlights that despite rising streaming uptake, traditional platforms continue to attract strong reach. More importantly, it shows that content (not platform) drives viewing. Fans simply want access to the games they care about, preferably on a big screen as a shared experience, something television and broadcasters continue to do well.
Multi-platform consumption is real
In Australia, over 60% of Gen Z and millennial sports fans now use Connected TV (CTV) with Gen Z averaging 3 subscriptions compared to the general average of 2 (Nexxen, 2025). In New Zealand, streaming subscription use continues to climb. Disney+ viewership is up 47.6% and Amazon Prime Video grew by 166.3% since 2020–2021, while Sky’s total service reach remains substantial at over 1.28 million (Roy Morgan, 2025).
Growth in New Zealand’s local broadcaster streaming services has also been significant, with TVNZ+ and ThreeNow both showing strong year-on-year increases as audiences migrate across all providers. Still, streaming only accounts for less than 40% of total viewing, with more than 60% of audiences remaining on linear TV (OzTAM StreamScape, June 2025).
Increased viewership and fragmentation drive complexity
In Australia, 46% of fans struggle to find where to watch, and 39% report cancelling services due to subscription overload (Nexxen, 2025). In New Zealand, audience fragmentation spans linear and digital platforms. IBIS World projects Pay TV revenue to decline by 5.7% annually through 2026 as SVOD expands, but this needs to be viewed with care. Sky positions itself as a Pay TV operator, not just linear, and TVNZ is also entering the Pay TV space with next year’s Soccer World Cup coverage.
The bigger point: competition for attention is intensifying, with audiences increasingly spread across more companies and services.
What This Means for Advertisers
Build converged campaigns
Siloing by channel (TV vs. digital) limits reach. Advertisers need strategies unified across linear, digital, and audio. An AdNews commentary mentions that integrating platforms is “no longer optional; it is the key to staying competitive” (AdNews, January 2025). Just as important, a multichannel approach ensures that TV and digital work together in complementary ways, where 1+1 can equal 3.
More CTV platforms opens doors for smaller brands
The growth of live sports in CTV has democratized access. Yael Milbank of Magnite ANZ mentioned that live sports streaming “paves the way for broader participation in live sports advertising” and that smaller advertisers can now reach niche yet passionate fanbases at scale (AdNews, October 2024).
Leverage TVmap for campaign measurement and optimisation
TVmap offers advanced tools for campaign forecasting, tracking, and post-analysis including broadcast TV and BVOD data. Its VOZ modules provide insights into average audience, reach, and time spent viewing, enabling advertisers to optimize their media strategies.
Oceania’s sports consumption is evolving rapidly and fans are already engaged across every screen. Digital (BVOD + CTV) offers a clear lower entry point compared to linear, making it more accessible for advertisers of all sizes. At the same time, measurement in CTV is still developing, with OzTAM recently starting to report via StreamScape. We at Broadcast M.A.P. are working on Total Video solutions to provide a modelled approach across all screens, and these are already underway, with more to come.
We’re here to help advertisers focus on what matters most: meeting audiences wherever they choose to watch.