Once an afterthought in the days of peak cable and satellite television, latency has shifted to the forefront of sports fans’ minds as streaming becomes a more popular way to consume games.
The issue has become even more apparent as sports betting has entered the picture. Fans that like to place wagers on sporting events during the game are often well behind live action, making for a frustrating, and perhaps costly, experience.
Given the prominence of sports betting nowadays, there’s clearly a market for any technology that can reduce latency and allow sports fans to watch games in as close to real-time as possible. Because right now, the data shows that streaming just isn’t cutting it.
According to data published by research firms Stats Perform and Opta following Sunday’s broadcast of Super Bowl LX, it’s clear that old technology far outperforms new technology when it comes to latency. Per the report, Super Bowl viewers that watched the game via an over-the-air antenna lagged just 19 seconds behind live action on the field, whereas viewers that watched on the NFL’s own app, NFL+, were over a full minute behind the on-field action.
How far behind are Super Bowl “live” streams, really?
Our #SBLX Latency Report reveals how streaming delays – some over a minute behind on-field action – impact viewer satisfaction, engagement and platform loyalty.
Read the full report ➡️ https://t.co/ucvkJLO1Hq pic.twitter.com/0upLXRToRv
— Stats Perform (@StatsPerform) February 9, 2026
Unsurprisingly, the second-best performing platform from a latency standpoint was cable TV, which averaged 38 seconds behind live game action. Every streamer measured approached being a full minute behind, with NBC’s Peacock performing the best of the bunch (which should be expected since NBC aired the game). YouTube TV and Hulu + Live TV both averaged 53 seconds behind live action, while DirecTV Stream was an average of 60 seconds behind.
While the streaming numbers overall are pretty bad, it should be noted that when this study was done for last year’s Super Bowl, five of the seven streamers measured lagged more than a minute behind real-time.
Another interesting data point from the report measured “audience drift” of these platforms, which compares the range of lag viewers experienced within a given platform (i.e. one person on Peacock could’ve been 30 seconds behind, while another could’ve been 50 seconds behind). YouTube TV had by far the most audience drift, with the report indicating the range in delays between users was as much as 126 seconds. Every other platform saw the range of delays between users fall below 40 seconds.
Latency is clearly an issue that NFL fans care about. The report cites that 93% of surveyed NFL fans believe its either “slightly” or “extremely” important that NFL game broadcasts are as close to live action as possible. As more people make the transition from cable or satellite packages to streaming, latency issues will only become more widespread.
Combating lag might be one of the more underrated battles facing the industry moving forward. Until there’s a technology to come along and fix the issue, those that want to watch games in as close to real-time as possible will simply have to use an antenna when possible, or rely on a cable package.
About Drew Lerner
Drew Lerner is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and an aspiring cable subscriber. He previously covered sports media for Sports Media Watch. Future beat writer for the Oasis reunion tour.