One in four sports fans cannot find the game, Gracenote study in six countries finds

Sport is shown on more channels and apps than ever, and viewers notice. Gracenote, the content data business owned by Nielsen, published a study on September 1. It found that 26% of sports fans always or often cannot work out which channel or streaming service is showing the event they want. Among people aged 18 to 34 the figure rises to 36%. Among viewers over 65 it is 16%.

The report is called “Home Screen Advantage”. It asked about 3,000 adults who watch sport on TV, roughly 500 each in Australia, Brazil, Germany, Mexico, the United Kingdom and the United States. The survey ran between June 29 and July 8. Most people simply search online, and 68% do that. But 32% say those searches often fail to show the right local channel or service. Among the youngest group, 47% say this.

What people want is clear. Eighty-five percent of fans want their TV home screen to show coming games and where to watch them. That ranges from 72% in Germany to 96% in Mexico. Ninety-one percent say one single place with all the sports information would make games easier to find. Sixty-seven percent are interested in schedules and statistics picked for them. Away from live matches, 77% watch related programmes such as analysis and documentaries, and 38% prefer highlights to whole games.

Two-thirds of fans already pay for at least one sport service

For platforms, the trouble also means people may cancel. Two-thirds of those asked already pay for at least one service to get sport, and half say they would probably add another. So viewers are willing to pay, but not to hunt. Trent Wheeler, head of product innovation at Gracenote, said leagues keep adding new ways to take part, while “viewers still struggle to find live games.” Gracenote sells the answer to this problem. Its On Sports service covers more than 75 sports and 340 leagues in over 50 countries.

For advertisers, the study points to a known problem on connected TV, meaning TVs joined to the internet. The home screen is valuable ad space for Samsung, LG, Roku and Amazon. Every row given to helping people find sport is a row not sold to a brand. As PPC Land notes, the group with the most trouble finding games is the same 18 to 34 group that is hardest to reach on ordinary TV and most willing to pay for a service. That makes it costly to annoy them.

Sport-first home screens may arrive before the 2028 Olympics

Device makers and operators may test home screens built around sport before the 2026-27 season and before the 2028 Olympics. Sponsored “where to watch” panels are one likely middle way between helping people find games and earning money from the space. Full country tables are in the Gracenote release.