Ooyala Research Shows Europe Leads In Mobile Sports Viewing

Ooyala has released its Q3 2016 Global Video Index highlighting business insights based on the online viewing trends of 220 million people around the world.

The report shows that viewers in Europe, particularly Great Britain, watch more online sports content via mobile than those in the rest of the world. It also analyses the year-over-year fan engagement with video for a European football club, particularly the days after the home team wins or loses.

The report also highlights that mobile viewing now represents over half (52%) of all video views, and that consumers are watching more mid- to long-form content on any device, regardless of screen size.

The report provides an overview of mobile sports viewing trends in Europe as compared to the United States and the rest of the world. A year ago, Ireland was the only market that saw the share of sports video views on mobile devices pass 50%. Today, 50% or more is the norm, globally. Great Britain, specifically, now sees 59% of sports video plays on mobile devices. As of Q3, Great Britain now outpaces the average of mobile sports viewing in all of Europe, 54%, the average in the United States, 52%, and the global average, 49%, according to the report.

The new report shows fan engagement with a popular European football club across a 45-day period year over year. The average daily baseline of video plays increased nearly 70% in 2016, with the maximum number of plays more than doubling.

After a win, the report highlighted that the club averages nearly 100% more video plays today than it did last year. More so, after a win against an historic rival, video plays jump more than 230%.

The report stated that smartphone users now spend 48% of their time on mid- to long-form content, up more than 23% from last year, while viewers on computers spend 57%, a 43% year-over-year increase.

“The importance of data is crucial for broadcasters, publishers and media companies as digital TV makes audiences and, therefore, strategies global. Having analytics to understand how viewers across the globe are consuming video differently is paramount,” said Ooyala principal analyst, Jim O’Neill. “Mobile can’t be ignored, either. Netflix just announcing offline viewing of its content on mobile devices underlines just how mobile we’ve become and how crucial mobile devices are for all content providers. This report reflects that as consumption of mid- to long-form premium content is increasing and gaining traction on all devices, particularly mobile.”