Industry trends

How 2nd Tier Sports Can Benefit From Live Streaming.

May 05, 2021 | By InPlayer

In one of our previous articles, we discussed why live sports is the future of live streaming. We concluded that the adrenaline rush of live sporting events online perfectly lends itself to digital live streaming excitement as a service.

On top of that, the team at InPlayer have also explored the growth of 4K and new production techniques and how producers of sports content are innovatively bringing live sports streams closer to people viewing at home. 

The combination of these two elements is a massive driving force behind the success of live streaming as a service. This article covers the benefits of live streaming for niche sports, along with a few ways that second-tier sports can generate significant value from streaming live sporting events online.

Why Does the Appetite for Live Sporting Events Online Continue to Grow?

One of the big areas where the growing interest can be seen is the live streaming of international football. Staggeringly, the amount of internet traffic grew to 222 petabytes between the 2010 and 2014 FIFA World Cups. 

For the 2014 World cup, HBS delivered 2,799,360 minutes of live video streams via tech provider EVS. Widespread coverage of this unmissable international live sporting event online was provided to viewers on both desktops and mobile web browsers.

Flash forward to 2021, and it’s clear that COVID-19 has had a huge impact in accelerating consumer demand for streaming live sports events online from the comfort of their homes. Tech continues to create virtual experiences for viewers, even during times when they’re unable to attend a physical venue or watch sports with friends and family as a result of lockdown restrictions.

But, it’s not just the big sporting events that stand to benefit from live streaming as a service. Sporting events less popular than international football, and other major players such as the NFL, now have a golden opportunity to use live sport streams to capture the interest of their audience. 

Niche sports have always had an audience and the appetite for live video streaming, meaning it’s up to service providers to find new ways to offer a service to fans and monetize content effectively.

Why do Live Sports Streaming Make Sense for Niche Sports?

To maximum returns, niche sports are hungry to get their content out to the fans they have and attempt to grow, cultivate and engage with new fan bases. According to a survey by Clearlap, almost half of all people who watched more than one sport would watch their favourite sport by streaming live sporting events online. 

There’s clear potential for any sport to take advantage of an online audience. You can provide fans of your team or organisation with a means of staying up-to-date with relevant news or updates, even if they’re not able to attend events in person. These changes can be especially advantageous in “away” events when locally-based fans may find it more affordable to watch online than travel great distances. 

From our experience, when covering streams from second-tier sports, usually the true fans of local teams are connected in a strong community, ready to support their team in any occasion, even if that means cheering while watching a live stream. Live stream as service providers should prime themselves to benefit from hardcore fans’ dedicated spirit.

Using Supplementary Content with Live Sports Streams

Another major plus-point of live streaming niche sports, such as kickboxing, hockey and college sports, is the option for viewers to include a second screen. Going beyond just the main attraction, today’s viewers can augment their sport experience by watching supplementary content on a second device. 

This content can include live statistics, comments, team interviews and behind the scenes stories which help fans feel closer to the team and engage outside of game time. Providing content like this encourages fans to subscribe to live stream events and spend more money on the team they love.

One of the biggest reasons why online live streaming makes sense for second-tier sports is because they tend to get less coverage on mainstream TV. The top leagues and the major sports are often restricted to network or cable TV coverage. However, not being available on TV gives second-tier sports a great opportunity to gain an advantage in the video streaming market.

While there’s a potential danger of coverage of the big name sports becoming saturated, coverage for lesser-known sports isn’t as common. With less competition in the market, live sport streams have an opportunity to get ahead.

Live Stream as a Service: Monetizing Your Live Sports Content

One of the most important aspects to consider when streaming live sports content is monetization

You need to ensure that you offer the best package and exclusive content to attract and retain viewers. This may be by offering pay per view options, or by providing a subscription service. You may also want to offer incentives to viewers, such as free content after they watch a certain number of games.

InPlayer works with clients to provide a simple to use and highly-customizable monetization system. We provide all of the hosting services you need, including OVP, CMS, affiliation management, and a reliable paywall for your content’s effective monetization. 

The InPlayer solution can be used on any device and supports multiple different languages. All currencies are supported and geo-blocking is active. With InPlayer, you’ll be able to maximise the returns you receive for your sports live streaming from day one.

Make Livestream Monetization Simple with InPlayer

Quickly and easily monetize live events using our intuitive interface. InPlayer gives you the essential tools needed to set up, manage and monitor the live stream, CDN and video player.

Talk to us to monetize your online content today.

 

How 2nd Tier Sports Can Benefit From Live Streaming

In one of our previous articles, we discussed why live sports is the future of live streaming. We concluded that the adrenaline rush of live sporting events online perfectly lends itself to digital live streaming excitement as a service.

On top of that, the team at InPlayer have also explored the growth of 4K and new production techniques and how producers of sports content are innovatively bringing live sports streams closer to people viewing at home. 

The combination of these two elements is a massive driving force behind the success of live streaming as a service. This article covers the benefits of live streaming for niche sports, along with a few ways that second-tier sports can generate significant value from streaming live sporting events online.

Why Does the Appetite for Live Sporting Events Online Continue to Grow?

One of the big areas where the growing interest can be seen is the live streaming of international football. Staggeringly, the amount of internet traffic grew to 222 petabytes between the 2010 and 2014 FIFA World Cups. 

For the 2014 World cup, HBS delivered 2,799,360 minutes of live video streams via tech provider EVS. Widespread coverage of this unmissable international live sporting event online was provided to viewers on both desktops and mobile web browsers.

Flash forward to 2021, and it’s clear that COVID-19 has had a huge impact in accelerating consumer demand for streaming live sports events online from the comfort of their homes. Tech continues to create virtual experiences for viewers, even during times when they’re unable to attend a physical venue or watch sports with friends and family as a result of lockdown restrictions.

But, it’s not just the big sporting events that stand to benefit from live streaming as a service. Sporting events less popular than international football, and other major players such as the NFL, now have a golden opportunity to use live sport streams to capture the interest of their audience. 

Niche sports have always had an audience and the appetite for live video streaming, meaning it’s up to service providers to find new ways to offer a service to fans and monetize content effectively.

Why do Live Sports Streaming Make Sense for Niche Sports?

To maximum returns, niche sports are hungry to get their content out to the fans they have and attempt to grow, cultivate and engage with new fan bases. According to a survey by Clearlap, almost half of all people who watched more than one sport would watch their favourite sport by streaming live sporting events online. 

There’s clear potential for any sport to take advantage of an online audience. You can provide fans of your team or organisation with a means of staying up-to-date with relevant news or updates, even if they’re not able to attend events in person. These changes can be especially advantageous in “away” events when locally-based fans may find it more affordable to watch online than travel great distances. 

From our experience, when covering streams from second-tier sports, usually the true fans of local teams are connected in a strong community, ready to support their team in any occasion, even if that means cheering while watching a live stream. Live stream as service providers should prime themselves to benefit from hardcore fans’ dedicated spirit.

Using Supplementary Content with Live Sports Streams

Another major plus-point of live streaming niche sports, such as kickboxing, hockey and college sports, is the option for viewers to include a second screen. Going beyond just the main attraction, today’s viewers can augment their sport experience by watching supplementary content on a second device. 

This content can include live statistics, comments, team interviews and behind the scenes stories which help fans feel closer to the team and engage outside of game time. Providing content like this encourages fans to subscribe to live stream events and spend more money on the team they love.

One of the biggest reasons why online live streaming makes sense for second-tier sports is because they tend to get less coverage on mainstream TV. The top leagues and the major sports are often restricted to network or cable TV coverage. However, not being available on TV gives second-tier sports a great opportunity to gain an advantage in the video streaming market.

While there’s a potential danger of coverage of the big name sports becoming saturated, coverage for lesser-known sports isn’t as common. With less competition in the market, live sport streams have an opportunity to get ahead.

Live Stream as a Service: Monetizing Your Live Sports Content

One of the most important aspects to consider when streaming live sports content is monetization

You need to ensure that you offer the best package and exclusive content to attract and retain viewers. This may be by offering pay per view options, or by providing a subscription service. You may also want to offer incentives to viewers, such as free content after they watch a certain number of games.

InPlayer works with clients to provide a simple to use and highly-customizable monetization system. We provide all of the hosting services you need, including OVP, CMS, affiliation management, and a reliable paywall for your content’s effective monetization. 

The InPlayer solution can be used on any device and supports multiple different languages. All currencies are supported and geo-blocking is active. With InPlayer, you’ll be able to maximise the returns you receive for your sports live streaming from day one.

Make Livestream Monetization Simple with InPlayer

Quickly and easily monetize live events using our intuitive interface. InPlayer gives you the essential tools needed to set up, manage and monitor the live stream, CDN and video player.

Talk to us to monetize your online content today.

 

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