The Changing Landscape in Live Sports Streaming
Today’s mobile phones have virtually all the computing power needed to do what every user might have had to use a PC about two decades ago. Because of this, sending emails, making payments, streaming videos, and more can be done without the need for a laptop or a personal computer. To top this off, mobile devices are slowly replacing TV’s due to the introduction and predominance of streaming services nowadays.
Sports fans moving to live streaming
Pertaining to live sports streaming, reports show that unlike before (where sports fans enjoyed their favourite games via a paid cable subscription or going to watch it live at the venue), a lot of people now watch their favourite games on their smartphones or other devices via a paid streaming service.
Statistics from Grabyo’s OTT Video Trends report shows that while 60% of sports fans watch sports content via a premium service on social media or an over-the-top (OTT) subscription, 50% still watch via cable-TV or satellite subscription. When compared to other niches like movies, music and documentaries, sports viewing still accounts for the major content viewed by consumers who prefer digital content.
Over-The-Top (OTT) services
Movie streaming is slowly giving cable-TV a run for its money with 60% of individuals opting to subscribe to a streaming movie service over paying for a cable-TV subscription to watch movies on a dedicated channel. These numbers are backed by Netflix’s global market penetration whose current count is 54%. In predominant English-speaking countries, however, this number rises as high as 61%.
Cord-cutting is becoming more prevalent in households as publishers and broadcasters intensify their efforts to capture more online audiences through unique and stellar content. This would cause more people to move away from traditional cable TV subscriptions to OTT services without giving up access to premium entertainment from their favourite shows and games.
This trend of people switching to OTT services will definitely continue as broadcasting agencies and stakeholders in sports federations, in conjunction with digital publishers, are looking to launch and deliver personalised consumer services to their prospective viewers. With this, broadcasters will lose sole or primary distribution rights to direct-to-consumer services which gave them bragging rights for a long time during the cable-TV era.
Meeting the demand for online streaming services
The demand for streaming options has been met by recent content licensing deals secured by top social media platforms such as Facebook and YouTube. These deals avail them with mainstream media right partnerships, following the recent trend in the demand for OTT services by consumers. With the recent changes in this landscape, broadcasters are beginning to see the need to consider online streaming services as primary services in the industry.
OTT services are slowly making their way towards the mainstream media. Cable TV providers, upon realising this, have begun extending their services to online streaming platforms. Examples of these are HBO Max and Disney+ – two streaming services owned by broadcasters who are gradually making their presence felt in the OTT market. This only goes to prove that traditional cable TV providers are changing to fit into this dynamic landscape.
Live Sports Streaming in Australia
With respect to the sports industry, especially in Australia, there are several sport streaming services that sports fans can choose from for their own delight. For those in a country where some of these services are restricted, downloading a VPN would avail customers the opportunity to enjoy their favourite sport via their paid subscription.
The simple trick is that VPNs connect users to another location via a remote server. This then gives the user’s PC an IP address in the connected country – making it seem like the user resides there. This way, sports fans can view their favourite games anywhere, anytime. Of all the sport streaming services available in Australia, listed below are a couple of them:
Kayo
Foxtel Now
Optus Sport
beIN SPORTS Connect
Fetch TV
OVO Play
All the aforementioned, except OVO Play, require a paid subscription before access to the service is granted.
Ultimately, technology is changing the way we live, eat, shop and have fun. This has also changed the way we enjoy our favourite games and shows. Traditional TV outlets are also making necessary changes to fit into the evolving ecosystem so as to remain relevant.
