Who's Winning the Sports Shelf?
Sports CTV prominence across the USA, January to May 2026
Not all sports placements are equal. Across the US connected TV landscape, Looper Insights tracked every placement, every platform, every hour, to reveal which sports are truly winning visibility in 2026.
Powered by Looper Insights Sports Visibility Tracker · USA · Jan to May 2026
Before we reveal the data. Make your call.
Which sport generated the most CTV visibility value in the USA from January to May 2026?
The Sports Visibility Leaderboard
Total $MPV™ (Media Placement Value), USA CTV, Jan to May 2026
NBA leads US sports CTV visibility with $57.6M in Media Placement Value, nearly 4× more per placement spot than MLS.
$MPV™ (Media Placement Value) measures the commercial value of where and how often a sport appears on connected TV screens, not just how many times it was promoted.
The Rise
didn't just grow. It exploded.
From $0.5M in January to $7.2M in May, a 1,423% rise in CTV visibility value for Formula 1.
What's driving the rise?
Apple TV's exclusive deal with Formula 1 is translating into aggressive CTV shelf presence. As the race calendar builds momentum through spring, so does its visibility across US streaming platforms. This is what a rights deal looks like in the data.
The Insight
More promotions doesn't mean more value.
Two sports. Similar spot counts. Very different outcomes.
Placement quality, timing and screen position determine commercial value. Volume alone tells you very little. This is why $MPV™ exists.
Want to see how your sport performs across every platform, every hour?
Looper Insights tracks sports CTV prominence across 600+ platforms and 120 countries. If you work in sports rights, streaming or content strategy, this data is built for you.