The 2017 Year in Sports Media report looks at some of the top moments in sports and how what happened this past year could impact the short and long-term futures of sports rights holders, fans and sponsors.

• How are sports viewing habits changing?
• What are leagues doing to engage with the modern sports fan?
• What sponsorship trends are emerging among U.S. sports?

Access to sports content is at a 15-year high across U.S. television, with content creators producing more than 134,000 hours of sports news, event, anthology and commentary programming in 2017. And when it comes to consumption, 86 of the top 100 telecasts viewed live or on the same day were sports related.

SPORTS EVENTS DRIVE TV AUDIENCES

TV is still a key medium for audiences to connect with sports content. Despite the potential for audiences to disperse across other media, “sports” still accounted for 86 of the top 100 telecasts viewed Live+SD** in 2017. As audiences connect with remote fans across social platforms, they will continue to congregate in person around TV.

**Includes telecasts 15 minutes in duration or longer; includes pre and post event telecasts.