Free Streaming Is Taking Over TV—Except in Sports
Plus: The WNBA's Endless Feedback Loop and College Sports' Latest Big Deal(s)
This is supposed to be one of the quietest stretches in the calendar. But in a year stuffed with sports, there’s a lot going on…
What I’m Watching 📺: Free stuff, like everybody else. Three of the top six streaming services in terms of TV watch time in May according to Nielsen1 are primarily free—YouTube, Roku Channel, and Tubi. And that’s before counting mobile behemoths TikTok and Instagram. Netflix is now discussing the possibility of launching a free tier in certain markets to keep up with demand.
But as eyeballs increasingly move to ad-supported, free apps—and stay there— premium live sporting events aren’t making the shift. Victory+ promised to build a free streaming home for sports, grabbing local rights for a handful of teams plus leaguewide NWSL and League One Volleyball deals. But now, it appears to be struggling to make the money work. Teams are instead opting for a paid streaming approach, primarily with DAZN.
There are some free options out there. Ion is available via Tubi. NWSL+ is keeping women’s soccer matches free after retreating from V+. The NFL’s Thursday Night Football streams on Twitch, and there’s always an antenna for viewing local networks.
But I’m keeping an eye on where this goes. Leagues risk losing audiences if they don’t put their best content in the places where fans spend time, yet they risk losing serious revenue if they sacrifice the rights fees that have basically built our modern sports economy.
What I’m Annoyed By 😠: A relatively calm WNBA trade deadline was overshadowed this weekend by continued fallout from Sophie Cunningham’s comments about transgender athletes’ place in women’s sports, the backlash to those comments, the backlash to that backlash, and so on and so on and so on. Three straight Fever games have now been surrounded by rallies and debate.
The controversy has nothing to do with league policies or stances, and yet the W can’t help but constantly find itself in the middle of contentious conversations about what it means to be a woman in 2026. “For the past three years, the WNBA has hosted proxy wars for nearly every modern American anxiety, including race, gender and sexuality, DEI policies, and the pros and cons of liberal institutions,” Seerat Sohi wrote recently. “If there’s any league that has reason to believe that intangible influence can translate to tangible political change, it’s the WNBA. But it’s also why the league is just about always in a negative feedback loop longer than it needs to be.”
It’s great that people are talking about—and talking to—W stars. But it’d be even better if the debate-de-jour didn’t feel like all they were discussing.
The WNBA Stumbles Into Its All-Star Break
Welcome back to Club Sportico, where we discuss the intersection of sports and money—with some extra humor and opinion. Today we’re talking about stalled progress.
What I Loved ⚾: The Women’s Pro Baseball League debuted on Saturday as the Los Angeles Queens beat the New York Heights, 10-8. I was glad to see the game get coverage on MLB.com, and even more enthused to see the WPBL’s mascot, Maybelle, which is based on 99-year-old pioneer player Maybelle Blair. More humanoid mascots, please!2
Sportico Story of the Week 🎾: Alex Eala hasn’t won a Women’s Tennis Association title, yet she’s eighth among active women’s tennis players in Instagram followers. It’s time to get to know the 21-year-old Filipino star.
[🚨 Programming note: If you’re reading this on Monday AM, Eala is playing for her first WTA title in Washington this afternoon. She’ll be down a set to Jess Pegula when play resumes after Sunday’s weather delay.]
Non-Sportico Story of the Week 📜: I find it exceedingly difficult to figure out what actually matters when it comes to legal changes in the NCAA. There’s a whole class of players who might get another year of eligibility, starting immediately? More than 100 athletes just joined a unionization push? The SEC and Big Ten now support the Protect College Sports Act, which would grant the NCAA antitrust immunity on eligibility matters and change the way schools sell their media rights?
That last one seems like a biggie. Now the question is whether the Senate will have time to vote on the legislation before a looming monthlong recess (and the midterm races that follow), as Ross Dellenger recently explained.
What I Want To See More Of 🎽: J.J. Watt is winning me over as a seemingly bought-in Burnley owner. Or maybe it’s the Premier League club’s social team that’s gotten my attention. I enjoyed their recent behind-the-scenes video on the design of the team’s newest jersey.3 Now I’m hungry for even more sports content with a Say Yes to the Dress vibe.
Club Sportico is a community organized by Sportico, a digital media company launched in 2020 to cover the business side of sports. You can read breaking news, smart analysis, and in-depth features from Eben, Jacob and their colleagues at Sportico.com, and listen to the Sporticast podcast wherever you get your audio. Contact us at club@sportico.com.
It also produced one of the most, um, unique national anthem performances you’ll ever watch.