Live sports remain one of the most powerful ways for brands to reach engaged audiences at scale.
What has changed isn’t the value of live sports; it’s how we unlock that value.
For home services brands, CTV offers a way to make live sports advertising more targeted, adaptable, and measurable without giving up the audience reach that linear TV provides.
In today’s media landscape, winning isn’t about picking sides.
Running a smarter playbook is the focus.
Fragmentation of Reach is the Core Challenge – CTV is the Solution
A defining shift in TV viewership has reshaped how audiences consume live sports. Appointment viewing still exists—but mass reach is harder to assemble.
Broadcast TV, MVPDs, and streaming platforms now host live sports audiences with exclusive and simulcast rights.
A single NFL playoff game is now available in multiple places like CBS, FOX, or NBC on regular TV. Games are also available on YouTube TV, Paramount+, Prime, or Peacock for streaming. Rather than buying for mass reach, marketers ‘assemble’ it. CTV serves as the connective tissue that enables live sports to work at scale again.
As viewing habits fragment, the assumption that a single live sports buy delivers comprehensive reach no longer holds.
For home services brands, this creates a new planning reality:
- Linear TV continues to play a critical role in delivering scale
- No single platform captures the full live sports audience
- Reach must now be intentionally built across multiple distribution paths
CTV strengthens live sports strategies by helping brands navigate this fragmentation.
By layering CTV-led sports investments into broader video plans, brands can:
- Capture incremental reach that would otherwise be missed
- Maintain consistent exposure as viewers move between platforms
- Reinforce frequency in priority markets and service areas
- Capitalize on accompanying content (talk shows, highlights) via programmatic buys
- Retarget viewers post-game with sequential messaging to build frequency and ad recall
This is exactly where premium CTV partners are leaning in. As one partner put it, “Live sports is undoubtedly CTV advertising’s next big arena… The shift from linear to CTV unlocks true ‘appointment viewing’ at scale, giving advertisers the chance to meet fans in the moments of highest engagement and attention.” —Tom Wolfe, SVP of Business Development, Viant Technology. That shift gives home services brands new flexibility to assemble reach intelligently, not just buy it in bulk.
In today’s live sports landscape, CTV’s role is to extend, connect, and stabilize reach. This ensures appointment viewing still delivers the scale brands expect.
Live Sports Commands Premium Value (Even at Higher CPMs)
Rising CPMs in live sports reflect demand, scarcity, and escalating rights costs—not declining effectiveness.
Live sports still attract viewers at specific times getting high attention from ads and people tend to remember them well. Sports also have cultural importance that goes beyond just the broadcast.
A recent report from eMarketer highlighted that sports rights investments are nearly double what they were a decade ago. This signals how central sports remain to media ecosystems.
The question for brands isn’t whether live sports are “worth it,” but whether every premium impression is truly pulling its weight.
This is where CTV changes the equation.
In practice, activating live sports through CTV allows brands to:
- Offset premium CPMs with reduced waste
- Tighten delivery to serviceable geographies
- Extend value beyond the live event itself
Platform results are starting to confirm this. One leading streaming partner, for example, reported that Prime Video’s Thursday Night Football audience grew 11% in 2024. This makes it the only NFL broadcast partner to increase viewership year over year.
Additionally, advertisers using Interactive Video Ads saw much higher purchase rates than standard spots. These results show that premium live sports and interactive formats can attract more attention leading to better actions.
In working with one of our clients, Scale demonstrated that live sports placements delivered a 2x higher conversion rate. This is despite CPMs that were 45% higher than the standard streaming CTV rate.
The takeaway is simple: efficiency doesn’t always equal effectiveness. This is especially true when you’re advertising in high-attention environments. Sometimes, the premium inventory is the winning play.
Win with a Pulsed, Audience-Led Live Sports Strategy
Live sports should match the natural ups and downs of sports viewership. They should also connect with the leagues that matter most to your audience.
Sports attention rises and falls throughout the year, varying by league, game, seasonality, and regional relevance. Not every sport, and not every moment, delivers the same value for every brand.
For home services advertisers, the most effective approach is an agnostic, audience-led pulse strategy.
This means:
- Identify which leagues and events over-index with their customer base
- Concentrate investment during moments of peak attention
- Use CTV to scale in and out efficiently without long-term commitments
CTV enables brands to:
- Flex budgets around NFL, college football, NBA, or marquee events
- Maintain presence during high-impact windows without overspending
- Extend engagement into highlights and adjacent content after live games conclude
This pulsed approach ensures live sports dollars are concentrated where they deliver the most value, rather than be spread thin across the calendar. It also takes advantage of the unique capabilities of modern platforms.
One streaming partner reported that early seasons of Thursday Night Football had more viewers in younger groups. These viewers were harder to reach compared to past broadcasts and their average watch times were longer. Those shifts make it even more important to let audience behavior and not legacy schedules, drive your plan.
This allows brands to:
- Be part of the buzz when it matters
- Avoid overcommitting before value is proven
- Gradually scale into sports environments with clarity and control
The Bottom Line
Live sports are still a strong way to grab attention. However, the environment around them is getting more complicated.
For home services brands, success doesn’t come from being everywhere; it comes from being strategic. An audience-led, platform-agnostic CTV approach helps brands reach high-attention moments, learn quickly, and scale what works.
The brands that win in 2026 and beyond won’t opt out of live sports. They’ll play it smarter.
How Scale Can Help
At Scale, we help home services brands navigate the complex live sports landscape with confidence. Our team combines deep expertise in media strategy, data-driven audience insights, and CTV activation. This helps us craft pulsed, audience-led campaigns that maximize reach, efficiency, and measurable impact. From planning to execution and optimization, we ensure every live sports dollar drives the highest possible return for your brand.
