There is currently a very broad offering of streaming services. Netflix, Amazon Prime, Apple TV, HBO, and Paramount+ all offer subscriptions to access their original, licenced, or proprietary content. Disney+, which bundles the Hulu and ESPN services with one subscription, is a particularly strong player when it comes to sports content.

Therefore, it would seem counterintuitive to launch another streaming service –unless, of course, such a service had a very competitive advantage. Luckily, OTT opens up a very solid possibility of such an edge. 

According to a 2019 report from Deltatre, many consumers are willing to supplement their entertainment consumption with sports content. This category is particularly noble to new subscribers, since teams and athletes have entire communities rooting for them and following their careers. 

Aside from ‘behind the scenes’ content from their favorite athletes –which they could easily get from social media or large studio productions–, fans could be willing to pay for an OTT streaming service if it offered hyper localized sports content. That is, a livestream or original content from their local sports teams or high school and college tournaments.

Considering that, according to the same Deltatre report, almost 80% of people under 24 years of age currently pay less than $39 dollars each month for sports content, and that the average price tag for a basic streaming service is $9 dollars per month (Netflix and Disney+ start at $8, while Paramount+ launched with a $10 price tag), a local sports OTT service could be offered for anywhere between $10 and $25. 

The audiences might be much smaller than those of the leading streaming services, but their fidelity might be stronger if the OTT service becomes a community event, like all local sports events tend to do. It’s an alternative worthy of examination.