Disney is Dominating March Madness Live Streaming

Preliminary ratings from CBS and Turner Sports reveal that the ‘Sweet 16’ semifinal round of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament had its highest viewership in nearly 30 years. Rising consumer Demand shows us that several streaming services have benefitted from the tournament’s popularity. Purchase Intent Mentions for both ESPN+ (DIS) and fuboTV (FUBO) have increased significantly in the past quarter: +43% and +27% on their respective 90-day trendlines.

This chart provides a few additional takeaways:

• FUBO is lagging ESPN+ in terms of total PI volume (represented by the size of the dot). Both pale in comparison to Hulu, also owned by Disney.
• Despite showing less tournament-related growth, fuboTV has maintained a higher level of consumer Happiness, suggesting a higher level of complaints for ESPN+.

It’s a positive sign that FUBO has managed to net some of the Tournament viewing, but they’ll need to maintain viewership growth if they want to compete with the entrenched competition.