Antenna has released new findings showing that sports continues to be one of the most powerful engines of streaming growth — and that ESPN and FOX’s new sports-first direct-to-consumer services are off to an exceptionally strong start.

According to Antenna’s State of Subscriptions: Sports & Streaming 2025 report, ESPN Unlimited and FOX One achieved a combined 4.0 million sign-ups between their August 21 launch and the end of October. ESPN Unlimited accounted for 1.7 million, while FOX One delivered 2.3 million, making the pair two of the fastest-scaling new entrants in the DTC sports category.

While there is no perfect apples-to-apples benchmark — because few services have launched with this level of live-sports exclusivity — the early growth curve exceeds what most entertainment-only SVODs achieve in their first 60–70 days.

Antenna’s “sign-ups” metric includes both paid sign-ups and free trials up to six months, depending on distributor policies. As a result, long-term retention will determine how much of this early volume translates into durable recurring revenue.

Bundles and Channels Shape Early Adoption

Antenna’s data highlights two contrasting distribution strategies:

• ESPN leaned into the Disney ecosystem.
  43% of ESPN Unlimited sign-ups came through Disney+ and Hulu bundles. Only 12% selected the standalone plan.

• FOX One relied on marketplaces.
  57% of all FOX One sign-ups came through Amazon Channels — one of the largest marketplace-dependent launch curves seen recently.

Channel-driven acquisition can accelerate early volume, but it also raises questions around subscriber ownership, margin structure, and long-term LTV — issues every subscription operator must weigh when balancing reach versus direct customer relationships.

vMVPDs Hold Steady After ESPN and FOX DTC Launches

Antenna also examined the impact of the new services on virtual MVPDs (vMVPDs) — streaming pay-TV replacements such as YouTube TV, Hulu + Live TV, Sling TV, and Fubo.

To ensure clarity for readers:

• Traditional MVPDs (Multichannel Video Programming Distributors) are cable and satellite providers like Comcast, Spectrum, Cox, DirecTV, and Dish.

• Virtual MVPDs (vMVPDs) are streaming-based pay-TV services (YouTube TV, Hulu + Live TV, Sling TV, Fubo, etc.).

Despite industry speculation that ESPN and FOX’s direct offerings would accelerate cord-cutting, Antenna found no unusual movement in vMVPD trends in September or October.

Key data points:

• Q3 2025 vMVPD sign-ups totaled 4.7 million, down 12% YoY, but consistent with normal seasonal and competitive patterns.

• vMVPD churn declined year over year.

• YouTube TV expanded its sign-up share to 44%, strengthening its lead in the category.

While early data does not show immediate disruption, it is still too soon to conclude that vMVPDs are insulated. The next NFL window and any future broadcaster disputes will provide stronger indicators of how viewers respond to competing sports access points.

Subscriber Views: How Sports Content Actually Drives Sign-Ups

Antenna’s report also includes the first public insights from Subscriber Views, its new analytics framework combining subscription data with viewership behavior.

Apple TV+: MLB Drives Sign-Ups, but Retention Lags

MLB games accounted for six of Apple TV+’s top ten acquisition-driving titles between April and September. Baseball delivered meaningful subscription spikes — but MLB-driven sign-ups showed lower month-one retention than the average Apple TV+ subscriber.

This pattern suggests that sports cohorts may require stronger cross-promotional programming or bundling to extend their lifecycle beyond marquee events.

Netflix: Canelo vs. Crawford Produced a Major Acquisition Spike

The Canelo vs. Crawford boxing event drove 238K Netflix sign-ups, registering one of the strongest event-driven acquisition peaks for Netflix outside its NFL Christmas programming.

Subscriber Views also showed that this cohort over-indexed for Amazon Prime Video’s Thursday Night Football, revealing cross-platform sports affinities that were previously difficult to measure.Because

Subscriber Views is newly launched; these early patterns should be viewed as directional rather than definitive — sports-driven retention can vary meaningfully by service and event type.

League Services and RSNs See YoY Growth

Sports-first platforms also posted compelling gains:

• League services (NFL+, NFL Sunday Ticket, NBA League Pass, MLS Season Pass, MLB.TV, UFC Fight Pass) grew +18% YoY in Q3, fueled largely by NFL demand.

• Regional Sports Network (RSN) direct-to-consumer services grew +34% YoY in Q3, continuing substantial growth from earlier in the year.

This suggests that sports fragmentation is expanding total market participation across national, regional, and platform-based tiers.

INSIDER TAKE

Antenna’s new report offers two essential insights for subscription operators:

1. Sports is now one of the most reliable acquisition engines in streaming.
ESPN Unlimited and FOX One’s combined 4M sign-ups — alongside Apple TV+ and Netflix’s sports-driven spikes — underline that sports continues to outperform scripted programming in first-month conversion potential.

2. But sports-driven subscribers remain volatile.
Early Subscriber Views data indicates that sports audiences convert fast but often churn faster, depending on what happens after the event window. The next phase — month-two and month-three retention curves for ESPN Unlimited and FOX One — will determine the long-term economics of these launches.

As more rights migrate to streaming, operators will need to balance high-velocity acquisition with the operational realities of retention, pricing, bundling, and customer ownership across direct and marketplace channels.