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This sluggishness is due to ongoing fears of a recession contributing to a downturn in the advertising economy, whose effects were compounded by inflation and rising interest rates that chilled debt financing, according to Joseph Teasdale, head of technology at media firm Enders Analysis.

“The leagues have exploited the intense competition between media companies, who are seeking to differentiate their streaming services by extending sport rights deals to cover both their linear and streaming assets,” Adam Dalrymple, research analyst at Enders Analysis, tells The Current. “European football is much cheaper than the NFL or NBA in the U.S., but still popular enough to drive viewing on these platforms.”

It comes a month after an Enders Analysis report said that the number of articles on women’s sport, and the print page space devoted to them and prominence given to them online, has “skyrocketed” in the past two years.

The report said “Every aspect of coverage is improving, unlike in men’s sport, which has reached saturation.”

It added: “The evident consumer interest in women’s sport will not cannibalise the interest or space devoted to men’s—different publications operate independently, and if anything, the potential to grab readership is an opportunity, not a hindrance.”

Meanwhile, the era of easy tech funding, fuelled by low interest rates, which allowed WeWork's spread has ended, says Claire Holubowskyj, senior research analyst at Enders Analysis, who said the firm now stands as "the poster child of overhyped start-up".

"It was able to grow because of that culture of really backing tech companies," she says. "That's changed now - the broader economy has shifted."

The MLS deal gave the company just that. ESPN is US-centric, however, with no presence in the largest European markets — a big turnoff for Apple, if past actions are a guide. “They were very fussy when they spoke with the NFL last year,” noted François Godard of media research firm Enders Analysis. “They wanted global rights, they wanted to operate digital. The NFL would not give them what they wanted.”

Claire Enders, founder of Enders Analysis, the media research company, believes the most likely reform will be a tweaking of the licence fee combined with increased use of commercial partnerships to keep production costs down.

She says: “I think there will be more link-ups with the streaming services in the way that Doctor Who is being co-produced by Disney+, and I think there will be a tweaked licence fee that requires wealthier households to pay more.

“The Government could also look at charging businesses more to access BBC services: in Germany, all businesses have to pay towards public service broadcasters because they use their websites and programmes in the workplace.”

"The main idea is not so much to sell advertising, but to create a segmented offer with higher prices than before, while Disney is under pressure to act on its profitability," confirms Alice Enders, director of research at Enders Analysis. Between April and June, the platform's losses amounted to half a billion dollars, compared to 1.1 billion a year ago, despite significant cost reductions.

“The world has moved on from the console model that Sony is offering,” said Gareth Sutcliffe of Enders Analysis, adding that the PlayStation maker had “rigidly stuck” to a model of high costs of hardware and content.

Gareth Sutcliffe, senior games analyst at Enders explained to City A.M. that Netflix’s foray into game streaming is “a natural progression for them”.

“They need to address the TV audience and they intend to do that without requiring an expensive console which is an enormous barrier to entry for many.”

Sutcliffe said Microsoft and Netflix “share a similar vision”, of low cost access to a wide library of games via subscription without the need for expensive hardware.

However, rival Sony “couldn’t be further away from that”, he said, adding that their need to discount PS5 in the UK shows that “lowering cost is vitally important”.