Asia Sports copyright reshuffle! Streaming media “split” the nearly $6 billion market, Netflix and Tencent took half of the market

The Zhitong Finance App learned that major streaming platforms, from Netflix (NFLX.US) to Tencent (00700), now bear half of the copyright fees for broadcasting sports events in Asia, highlighting that digital streaming is disrupting the traditional global media landscape.

Consulting firm Media Partners Asia (MPA) predicts that online platforms, including India's JioHotStar, will bear 50% of the region's sports copyright costs this year, with a total estimated total of about US$5.7 billion. The agency wrote in its latest report that this percentage is up from around 36% in 2021.

Global streaming apps are scrambling to sign contracts with top professional leagues to seize the screens of sports viewers. This means that viewers — especially those watching games outside the home market — need to subscribe to more and more paid platforms and no longer rely on just a few cable channels as in the past.

MPA data shows that in Asia, this trend may slow the growth rate of the sports commercial market. By 2030, copyright fees are likely to increase by only 1% to 2% per year, while the cumulative increase in copyright fees over the past five years is as high as 58%. The consulting firm wrote that Asia's $16.2 billion sports economy — including product sales and sponsorship agreements — should expand at a rate of about 5% per year during the same period to about $19.5 billion. Each Asian spectator contributes only about 4 US dollars in sports business revenue, which is far less than 200 US dollars per capita in North America.

Since 2021, India has contributed more than half of the increase in the Asian sports market. The Indian Cricket Super League (IPL) has the highest copyright value among Asian professional leagues. The copyright revenue for a single game is about US$12.4 million, which is already at the same level as the Premier League.

Meanwhile, Asian streaming giants have split the market. India's largest streaming platform JioHotstar, operated by Disney (DIS.US) and Reliance Industries, won the cricket match. Tencent provides Chinese viewers with channels to watch NBA and NFL games, while Indonesia's MNC Digital Entertainment Tbk holds the right to broadcast AFC and European Cup games.