In these uncertain times which have caused by the Coronavirus pandemic since late 2019, many businesses across the globe are severely affected due to lockdown and travel restrictions. Especially in the sports industry where sports fans are not allowed to watch their favorite matches in the stadium or other sports venue as part of the government effort to control the spread of the COVID-19 virus.
Many fans have missed the communal and the fun experience to go with their friends and support their favorite team or player during the live matches which have become part of their entertainment lifestyle. Fortunately, there are alternatives to compensate for this situation and that is live streaming sports events where you can easily use your mobile devices like smartphones or tablets to watch live sports events in the comfort of your home.
Although watching Live streaming sports events may not replace the thrilling experience as compared to watching real matches in stadiums. But it is still a good compensation to most people in the least.
With the improvement in digital technology, many broadcasting companies are exploring new and creative methods to improve the viewing experience using live streaming platforms as the gateway to connect sports fans to sports matches.
Most of us have already seen sports news that is broadcast with virtual and 3D effects in the studio background or soccer matches that comes with 3D maps, virtual stats broad and AR (Augmented Reality) replays to tell us on the current score and when the players have positioned in the soccer field. By doing so, easily enhances the viewer’s experience and sports fans will continue to use live streaming platforms or apps to watch their game online even when they have allowed watching real sports events in the near future.
Moreover, using live streaming apps to watch sports events on their mobile devices has given consumers another option to avoid paying monthly premiums in the cable subscriptions which has dominated the sports entertainment industry for over a decade. This is especially the case in Singapore where “die-hard” soccer fans need to subscribe and pay extra money to the telco companies to watch sports events in an “on-demand” sports channel based in real-time.
On the other hand, sport’s organizations and broadcasting companies alike have benefited greatly in terms of monetary returns, increase in their brand awareness, and viewership ratings when they start to host live sports events on live streaming platforms. Professional video studio companies that help their client to host live sports events also reported a significant increase in their sales especially during the COVID-19 pandemic where demands are high.
Whether the reasons, base on the human experience aspect from the consumer point of view or simply the external situation that shifts the model in watching a sports event. By now most will agree that live streaming sports events have become an important means of communication tool that allow many sports fans to entertain themselves even in this current pandemic situation.