Sport fans, assemble and appreciate the blessing that is Live Streaming.
It is fascinating what the 21st century has brought to the world. Never have the landscapes changed faster, science and technology improved more quickly; society as a whole changed more swiftly than it has in this fabled century. Even a decade ago, the world didn’t enjoy the benefits that we have today. We have smartphones that let us affordably connect to the world as a whole, do pretty much everything computers can, and most of all let us watch cat videos from anywhere we desire. Jokes aside, the mobility of today's computing devices such as smartphones, laptops have made our lives more comfortable than ever. Plus, the rise of live streaming came as a blessing in disguise for a sports fan. Go Live Australia is a trending live streaming platform that specializes in live streaming events.
Live Streaming from an Event.
It is indeed the most convenient time to be a sports fan as live streaming has enabled access to the entire world's catalogue of sporting events. Every sports fan will know the pain of desperately wanting to watch a match that they can't just because they don't have the streaming channel. And sometimes, the providers wouldn't even have the channel altogether making it impossible to watch the game despite being able to pay for it. The accessibility problem has plagued football fans for as long as the sport started taking off worldwide. Fans around the world raved of not being able to watch their favourite match because of unfortunate circumstances.
But those days are long gone. No longer are we restricted to watch what comes on TV, and have to use only TheVang.TV to attend our favourite sporting event. We can now view our favourite game from our workplace (careful to not get caught), in a remote cabin during a trip, heck we can even watch our favourite game while showering.
The Problems
Okay, that was a bit far-fetched as live streaming is still in its infancy and isn't precisely as widely adopted to be currently called as the ‘fabled’ solution sports fans dream. Streaming digitally is a relatively juvenile model of broadcasting, and many broadcasters haven’t adopted it just yet.
Unfortunately, the access medium to these services (that are available currently) isn't entirely universal. Most broadcasters are using apps to enable access to their services, and some of them only have the app on one platform such as on android but not on iOS or doesn’t have as good support on one platform. So, some users can get left out.
Also, one of the most significant problems that have been turning broadcasters away is the issue of piracy. There are a few sites streaming video from games without the permission of the sports organisation. Such acts are a violation of their rights and have made them more hesitant to adopt the new medium. It’s likely that such actions have made these organisation more vigilant, thus slowing down their plans for adoption until a reasonable enough solution comes up.
Finally, there’s the problem of fragmentation. Just like with TV, different broadcasters (usually, the highest bidder) hold rights to different leagues and games. So the issue very much persists with live streaming. For example, you may find that The Golden Cat League is shown on one channel while The Silver Cat League is on another and you may find that the service you are subscribed to may not have it.
The biggest problem with fragmentation is that you have to pay for each service if you want to watch all the events. Let's say that service costs you $9.99 per month, and you have to subscribe to the services to five of them then that adds up to more than $50 each month.
There are also some minor issues such as some live streams of sporting events aren’t actually ‘live’. For example, some organisations delay the video by 15 or so minutes on live streams of their matches. It is done to give their TV broadcast a boost up (since the viewership for TV is way ahead of even the most viewed live streams).
The Dire Problems
And the situation may be much worse in the digital medium than the traditional TV. As there are so many sports organisations for different sports and leagues, they can't all afford to bear the costs of a live streaming platform. Many of them partner with an online broadcaster that then broadcasts their events to the world. For example, IPL, one the most popular leagues in the world gets digitally broadcasted on Hotstar – an online streaming service of Star India (a subsidiary of 21st-century Fox).
However, there isn't just a singular broadcaster out there, and there are many such broadcasters which have made it complicated for the users.
In the past, there were also some sports organisations opted to be entirely different and instead formed partnerships with specific mobile carriers and cable providers. For example, the National Football League aka NFL allied with Verizon Mobile to allow only users of the carrier access the live streaming of their games.
Getting Better
Those days are fortunately gone, and while the fragmentation in the services is still quite severe, it's better than before. NFL themselves have allowed a more extensive number of audiences to enjoy their events as they partnered with many online broadcasters later on.
Although, online streaming is still not at its ideal state as the problems we stated above plaque the live streaming services. Ideally, you would want a particular app to download or service to subscribe you access to everything. But that’s probably never going to be possible, due to the number of sports organisations there are.
However, efforts do are being made to address the fragmentation issue. And the fact that there has been demand for these services may only give more of a reason to add to them. Star India’s Hotstar recently made a record of 11.2 million live stream viewers during a cricket game fought by India and New Zealand. The previous record was of 10.3 million live stream viewers, also held by the live streaming service. Those are some serious numbers, and it illustrates that the demand is there.
The Ideal Live Streaming Situation
If the above issues can be solved, then live streaming may become the preferred medium of watching sports. Imagine that the FIFA world cup final is going on, and you have to take a poo, then you no longer have to keep it in. You can take your phone to that divine place and watch it on your phone, without feeling like you were ripped off as you shelled out a ton of cash. Imagine how amazing that would be. Actually, on second thought, don't imagine that. It's a rather nasty scene to take place, and if it ever takes place, then all the uninterested spouses will probably be banging themselves on the head. Our interests and how much time we spend on them is already enough for them.
What Services Are Currently Available & Which Is The Best For Football Fans?
There is currently a plethora of Live Streaming Services available, and so, there is not exactly a clear winner as we discussed earlier. It all depends on where you live. If you are in western countries, then there's Thevang.TV which has most of the online channels broadcasting football events. Their pricing ranges from $20 to $45 depending on the channels you choose. There are also a few other services such as Banthang.tv, bongdaf and more that stream football and other sports channels.
If you are not in western countries, then you may be finding yourself out of luck to use these services
What Are The Requirements?
A fast and stable internet connection is a must. Depending upon what quality you are going to stream it, you can get away with a decent internet so long you aren't going for those crazy resolutions.
And, oh, just about any smartphone or laptop.
If you’re looking for a new streaming device, check out the best android TV Box review for 2019.
Conclusion
For a sports fan, it is an exciting time to be alive as we now have the opportunity to watch our favourite games from anywhere. Albeit, we may have to shell out quite a lot of cash. But it is likely that the prices will come down as the medium matures and more players come to the party.
We can now view our favourite game from our workplace (careful to not get caught), in a remote cabin during a trip, heck we can even watch our favourite game while showering or playing on the foosball table.
