Super Bowl Sunday has long been a huge day for broadcast. This year Roku and TurboTax also expect it to be a big day for streaming.
Roku’s research found that 86% of its users plan to watch the big game in their own home--a number undoubtedly boosted by COVID-19 sacking restaurants and bars.
At home 44% plan to watch on live linear TV via CBS and its affiliates, and 42% said they’ll watch via Roku.
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On its website Roku lets users know that they can stream the Super Bowl for free via the CBS Sports app, the NFL app, by starting a free trial of the CBS All Access streaming service or by authenticating the CBS channel if they have a pay-TV subscription. Of course they could also put up an antenna and tune into broadcast TV.
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“Streaming will score a touchdown during this year's Big Game. What we are seeing with the Super Bowl data, where basically Roku users are split evenly between those who will watch on traditional TV and those who will stream it, is that the traditional sports hook for traditional TV is no longer holding audiences the way it once did, said Tedd Cittadine, VP of content distribution at Roku. “As millions of fans make this Sunday a streaming Super Bowl event, we are seeing another sign of the future where all content will be streamed.”
To reach those streamers, TurboTax, which has bought a commercial during the CBS broadcast, is also the official sponsor of The Roku Channel’s Big Game Editorial Hub for the third year in a row and the Where to Watch Guide surrounding the big game.
It will also have interactive ad units including pre-show, pause break, movie night sponsorship, search zone and mini-primetime ads.
The editorial home will feature exclusive custom content Roku commissioned from The Players' Tribune.
The content provides a behind the scenes history of the blackout at the 2013 Super Bowl. The package uses animation and interviews with players who participated in the game: 49ers Delanie Walker and Michael Crabtree and Ravens Dennis Pitts and Ed Reed, now a Hall of Famer.
