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Hockey is back, with the NHL season kicking off in the first week of October. Using PEAK Fan Insights, we looked at how the NHL’s two home markets, the US and Canada, compare when it comes to the league being essential to fans’ media subscription decisions. In Canada, 58% of willing-to-pay fans say the NHL is essential, compared with 36% in the US. Despite contributing fewer than a quarter of the league’s teams, Canada leads the way when it comes to hockey’s place in subscription decisions.

Exciting news out of Spain: Netflix has secured exclusive rights to the 2030 FIFA World Cup. Following Spain’s national team victory in July, and record audiences tuning in to watch across DAZN and public broadcaster RTVE, the next World Cup cycle is shaping up to be an interesting one for the streaming landscape. We took a closer look into the overlap between FIFA World Cup fans interested in watching live and those with subscriptions to Spain’s leading streaming platforms. According to PEAK Fan Insights data, 68% of FIFA World Cup fans have access to Amazon Prime, followed by 53% who have access to Netflix. The 2026 FIFA World Cup attracted an average of 4.8 million viewers per match, reaching more than 38 million unique viewers overall on RTVE and breaking audience records. With Netflix entering the mix for 2030, it will be exciting to see what comes next.

European basketball has been at the centre of media attention recently, and with the EuroLeague season back underway, we decided to take a look at how it compares with domestic basketball leagues across Europe. Using PEAK Fan Insights, we looked at fans' interest in watching live games at home. While the EuroLeague leads domestic competitions in every market analysed, the gap is particularly tight in Greece, Italy, and Spain. In Greece and Italy, the EuroLeague leads by just two percentage points, while the gap in Spain stands at three points. The findings underline the broad appeal of the EuroLeague while highlighting the strength of domestic basketball in some of the continent’s most passionate markets.

Last week, Brazil’s president introduced a ban on all betting operations and advertising, citing public health concerns and ordering all existing promotional materials to be removed by next Monday (October 5). While operators appeal the decision, the impact is already creating major repercussions for sports rights owners – particularly in football, where numerous high-value sponsorships are at stake. Using PEAK Fan Insights, we analysed the proportion of fans who engage with top sports competitions by placing bets. For the domestic league, 27% of Brazilian Série A fans bet on the competition – a figure on par with the UEFA Champions League. For fans, this blackout could drive those who wish to keep betting toward alternative or unregulated channels. For sports rights owners, the financial fallout could be severe given how heavily Brazil’s top clubs and leagues rely on betting sponsorships.

Asia's top-tier club football competition is back - the AFC Champions League Elite returns, with 32 teams from 14 countries battling to reach the top of Asian football. According to PEAK Fan Insights data, watching live games at home is by far the most popular way for fans to follow the AFC Champions League Elite. Japan stands out as the only country where fans prefer watching highlights over live matches. Meanwhile, 17% of fans in China and 14% of fans in the UAE say they engage with the competition through social media content. In both markets, social media is the second most popular way to follow the competition, behind watching live games at home. Across the Middle East and Southeast Asia, fans are engaging with the competition in different ways, but watching live games remains the primary way fans follow the AFC Champions League Elite.

It's been an exciting few weeks of tennis in New York, with defending champion Carlos Alcaraz knocked out in the quarter-finals by home favourite Ben Shelton in a five-set epic that didn't finish until 3:30am local time, as fans continue to tune in to follow all the action from the US Open. While the Grand Slams have traditionally benefited from extensive free-to-air coverage in their domestic markets, the US Open stands out as an exception in the US, with fans needing an ESPN subscription to access the majority of live matches. According to PEAK Fan Insights data, more than 10 million US fans say they are willing to pay to watch the US Open – the home slam well ahead of the other Slams. The Australian Open and Wimbledon follow, with Roland-Garros coming in fourth.