The Streaming Wars Have Come for Sports

When the 2026 NFL regular season rolls around, fans will have several Sundays where games will start at 9:30 a.m. ET and end a little before the clock strikes midnight. These days, enjoying the full NFL experience requires subscriptions to Netflix, Prime Video, and Peacock. 

The way Americans enjoy sports viewing has completely changed. Look at the recent Open Championship. With the fourth and final PGA Tour major taking place across the pond, sleep was optional as the first two rounds at Royal Birkdale Golf Club, located in England, had a 1:30 a.m. start time on NBCSN and Peacock and the coverage continued until 3:30 p.m. ET. NBC Sports pencils in about 150-plus hours of live coverage every July. 

However, that’s nothing compared to the men’s World Cup (340+ hours), 2026 Winter Olympic Games (3,200+ hours), and upcoming US Open Tennis Tournament (280+ hours). The latter will require an ESPN Unlimited subscription to enjoy the full viewing experience.  

Forget about the sports betting angle for a moment. Does anybody even remember what it was like watching live sports before these streaming services launched? We take a look at how streaming services are a major reason why sports fans enjoy non-stop entertainment whenever major international sporting events roll around. 

The Never-Ending Sports Streaming Experience 

The 2026 Winter Olympic Games might’ve closed several months ago, yet Peacock subscribers can still open the app and watch replays of the USA vs. Canada men’s and women’s ice hockey gold medal finals, figure skating, and much more. This is not part of the 3,200+ viewing hours highlighted above. 

With the 2028 Summer Olympic Games taking place in Los Angeles, Peacock Olympic sports library already includes a Road to LA 2028 video menu. It’s way too soon for NBC to announce its broadcast plans for the event, but the location sets the stage for what’s expected to be a presentation unlike any we’ve seen before.

US Open Tennis Championship

Whether we’re talking about the French Open, Wimbledon, or the US Open, streaming services play a major factor when it comes to tennis fans being able to enjoy the complete viewing experience. Yes, the top US Open tennis matches are still on ESPN, but there is a limit as to how many of them ESPN can show during the course of a day. ESPN Unlimited subscribers, on the other hand, will be able to watch every match live. 

ESPN has yet to announce specific coverage plans for this year’s 15-day event. The 2025 US Open included 280-plus hours of coverage across ESPN, ESPN 2, ABC, ESPN+, and ESPN Deportes. Those with the ESPN Unlimited plan get the multiview option on mobile and connected TV devices. It’s the ticket to watching up to four matches simultaneously.

NFL Regular Season

NFL betting season is fast approaching, and if you look at the 2026 regular season schedule,it’s not hard to notice that every week includes at least one game on a streaming service. Week 16 includes the Houston Texans vs. Philadelphia Eagles Christmas Eve game on Prime Video followed by Christmas Day games between the Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears and Buffalo Bills vs. Denver Broncos on Netflix. The latter has increased its football inventory from two to five regular season games this season.

Prime Video is now in its fourth season of being the home of Thursday Night Football, and the package includes a Wild Card game. Add exclusive games on Peacock, and there are 20+ games in which viewers will need a streaming service subscription in order to view every island game. 

NBA Regular Season

The 2024-25 season marked the end of a nearly 40-year run of the NBA on TNT. Prime Video stepped in with regular season games on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. The streamer seems like a must have for Philadelphia 76ers fans following the trade for Jaylen Brown and signing of LeBron James. This is also the only way to watch the Emirates NBA Cup final, play-in tournament games, and one of the conference finals.

We can’t forget about all the games on Peacock that are part of NBC’s broadcast rights deal,  including Peacock NBA Monday. The Peacock Performance View features playing insights, heat maps, and scoring probabilities. The 2025-26 NBA regular season schedule is getting released later this summer. 

 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup

Unlike the recently completed FIFA Men’s World Cup in which all 104 matches were live on FOX or FS1, if you’re planning to watch the 2027 international women’s soccer tournament, you’ll need a Netflix subscription. This will be the streamer’s first time offering its subscribers a major sporting event spread over 31 days. 

There is a long wait between today and when the first game is played on June 24, 2027. Netflix has a live countdown running on its website. Viewers can look forward to watching 64 matches taking place across eight host cities throughout Brazil. As of now, there are 200+ plus hours of live coverage along with studio programming planned. 

2028 Summer Olympics 

With the 2028 Summer Olympics taking place on American soil, there is only going to be a three-hour time difference between Los Angeles and New York. This means, unlike previous Olympics in China and Japan, we don’t have to worry about turning Peacock on at 3 a.m. to catch a live event. 

Expect Peacock to once again be the place to find live broadcasts of every event. Looking back at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, NBCUniversal coverage featured 7,000 hours of coverage of 329 events.This included 23.5 billion minutes of coverage streamed on Peacock. That was up 40% from all prior Summer and Winter Olympics combined (16.8 billion minutes across NBCUniversal digital platforms). 

These streaming numbers will be even stronger two years from now as the Los Angeles Games will include 351 events thanks to the addition of flag football, baseball, softball, cricket, lacrosse, and squash.

Men’s World Cup Bidding Coming Soon

Don’t be surprised if Netflix tries to scoop up the US rights for the 2030 FIFA Men’s World Cup - the event’s 100th anniversary. Fox, Netflix, ESPN/Disney, and YouTube have all reportedly expressed interest in making a significant investment. According to CNBC, companies are budgeting between $1.5 billion and $2 billion for the U.S. rights to each of the next two tournaments.  

Adjusting to the Streaming World of Live Sports 

It’s not the end of the world if sports fans don’t have Peacock, Prime Video, Netflix, or ESPN Unlimited. Sure the game inventory and viewing options are much greater with them, but there are still NFL games on CBS, Fox, and NBC every Sunday. Philadelphia 76ers fans will still be able to watch King James and company on NBC Sports Philadelphia. 

Only time will tell whether affluent streaming platforms like Netflix or Prime Video will secure the broadcasting rights to the Super Bowl or the NBA Finals in the near future. Unlike the World Cup, it seems unlikely, at least for now, that this is something fans need to worry about.