Live sports streaming experiences are evolving, and viewer expectations are rising as consumer demand for high-quality live content on streaming services grows. According to Deloitte, in 2023, streamers will spend more than $6 billion on exclusive major sports rights in the largest global markets.
The transition from linear TV to streaming is applauded by consumers, who want more viewing choices. Streaming enables viewers to watch any and everything, including niche sports like bowling, frisbee, and paddleboarding.
This article will explore the current live sports streaming trends and the key enabling technologies that are empowering outstanding live sports streaming experiences.
Interactivity, personalisation, and low latency are trending for live sports streaming
One of the top live sports streaming trends is the move from linear scheduling towards a live events interface where viewers can select whatever match is on, enabling more choice. In addition, there is a strong desire in the industry to reduce the latency of live sports streaming. Service providers want to match the five second latency of broadcast delivery. Lower latency means viewers can see the action happen in close to real-time, making the streaming experience much more enjoyable. While streaming standards and video platforms support low latency, it can take time for service providers to adopt new systems and redevelop their applications.
The viewer experience is also becoming more interactive. There is a trend towards sports data enabling more interactive streaming experiences. Data can be synchronised with video: for example, stats following a horse on the racing field. Advertising is also changing, with new options such as double-box displays where viewers can continue to watch the game while an ad is being displayed. This creates new ad inventory for video service providers and is less disruptive for fans, improving the streaming experience.
The number of FAST (free ad-supported streaming TV) channels in the U.S. has increased 81% in the last year, according to Whip Media. A growing number of sports leagues are setting up their own streaming service to serve markets where they were previously unable to sell media rights, or to engage directly with fans with exclusive content they own outside of their media rights contracts. In some cases, it’s an opportunity for leagues to develop their sport in foreign markets. Sports leagues are creating their own linear streaming channels to distribute content to FAST platforms to boost monetisation.
Latest live sports streaming innovations
One of the biggest challenges when streaming live sports is scaling the service for high volumes of consumers. A premium sports event can attract millions of fans. Service providers need to be able to scale on-the-fly to meet the demand.
The cloud enables video service providers to scale quickly and assure an exceptional quality of experience for a fluctuating number of viewers. Bally’s Interactive, the digital arm of one of the world’s leading entertainment providers, is an excellent example of a content provider delivering next-gen live sports streaming experiences via the cloud. Bally’s is leveraging the cloud to simplify all stages of media processing and delivery, including playout, branding, media processing, streaming and more.
Video compression is another technology that is key for live sports streaming. Through advanced video compression technology, video service providers can reduce bandwidth to keep delivery costs down while maintaining outstanding video quality.
In addition, server-side ad insertion (SSAI) technology is a necessity to deliver targeted advertising, whether it’s to complement a subscription-based model or support an entirely new service. Using an SSAI SaaS that is fully cloud-based, service providers can deliver targeted addressable advertising to millions of concurrent viewers for live sports streaming. By choosing a targeted ad solution with manifest manipulation capabilities, service providers can also deliver different variants to users in real-time based on delivery rights.
Furthermore, working closely with content management and application vendors is critical to delivering the most innovative streaming experience to sports fans.
Conclusion
The live sports streaming market is growing and evolving. To deliver an exceptional-quality, low-latency, interactive streaming experience, video service providers must stay ahead of the latest technology innovations. Service providers must be able to stream live sports reliably and at scale with pristine quality up to UHD HDR, with low latency and targeted advertising, for millions of concurrent viewers.
