NHL ticket buyers were more likely to pay live-sports streaming services
Share with a subscription receipt from August 2025–August 2026 among established ticket buyers
Share with a subscription receipt
Source: YipitData U.S. e-receipt panel. NHL ticket-buyer cohort n=11,400; other live-event ticket-buyer benchmark n=152,404. ESPN includes its direct-to-consumer app, ESPN+, and the Disney+/Hulu/ESPN bundle. App-store billing may be missed.
Chart data
| Series | Share with a subscription receipt |
|---|---|
| NHL buyers — ESPN direct-to-consumer offerings | 6% |
| Other event buyers — ESPN direct-to-consumer offerings | 3.2% |
| NHL buyers — Fubo | 3.9% |
| Other event buyers — Fubo | 2.6% |
| NHL buyers — Sling TV | 3.4% |
| Other event buyers — Sling TV | 2.2% |
| NHL buyers — Netflix | 33.4% |
| Other event buyers — Netflix | 31.9% |
Was the difference limited to ESPN’s direct-to-consumer offerings?
No. Relative to other live-event buyers, NHL ticket buyers were 1.54× as likely to pay Sling TV, 1.50× as likely to pay Fubo, and 1.40× as likely to pay DIRECTV. By comparison, they were only 1.05× as likely to pay Netflix. The larger differences appeared in services centered on live television or sports, not general entertainment streaming.
Did the live-sports difference persist over time?
Yes. A combined group comprising ESPN’s direct-to-consumer offerings, Fubo, Sling TV, DIRECTV, and Max was 1.38× to 1.72× as common among NHL ticket buyers in each quarter from the third quarter of 2024 through the second quarter of 2026. The quarterly comparison describes a durable association; it does not show that hockey caused a subscription or identify which programming motivated the purchase.
Assumptions & Methodologies
We analyzed YipitData’s U.S. e-receipt panel. NHL ticket buyers purchased an NHL game ticket through Ticketmaster, SeatGeek, AXS, or Vivid Seats from August 2024 onward. The 11,400 established buyers were compared with 152,404 established buyers of other live events. The streaming share counted panelists with at least one receipt from August 2025–August 2026. App-store billing is undercaptured, ESPN represents several direct-to-consumer packages, and ticket buyers are more avid and may differ demographically from all NHL viewers. Results show association, not why a service was purchased or the effect of NHL programming.