-->
Sports/eSports > Blog

On the go or in the living room, sports and esports video viewers are some of the most demanding and passionate audiences out there, and streaming is enabling delivery of the biggest games and the smallest leagues alike.

Here you'll find Streaming Media's coverage of the technology and business behind the growing sports and esports streaming market.

Save your seat for Streaming Media NYC this May. Register Now!

Singing in the Digital Subway: How Livestreaming Bridges Our Need for Connection

After human connection hit an all-time low in 2020, people flocked to online platforms like Twitch to fill the sudden void we were suddenly and collectively experiencing. Streaming quickly grew to accommodate passions of all kind, from gaming to cooking to sports and beyond. Lux Narayan, Co-Founder and CEO at StreamAlive, outlines the specific ways that streaming stands to benefit from a conversational atmosphere and offers actionable ways that streamers can implement these interactions to connect with their audience.

The Premium Environment Advantage in CTV Advertising

A joint study by Vevo and Channel 4 found an almost 50% rise in consumers with a notable preference for premium television content. Roxanne Harley, Director of Client Strategy at Azerion, explains how advertisers can adapt to this consumer preference shift and optimize ad placement strategies within CTV environments to impactfully and accurately reach incremental, addressable audiences.

Beat the Clock: Live Sports Streaming at Scale

To succeed in streaming sports at scale, streamers must commit to delivering the best video quality and reliable and advanced experiences, all while cracking down on piracy. Simon Brydon of Synamedia breaks down exactly how to get all bases covered in sports streaming.

The Rise of the Ad Tier: How Streaming Business Models Determine the Content We Watch

In the pursuit of catalyzing profit, large video streaming companies have been radically altering their approach to growing top-line revenue and curtailing costs for some time now, be it through layoffs, password-sharing crackdowns, licensing of catalog content to rival streamers, and, notably, the introduction of advertising tiers.

The (R)evolution Will Be Streamed: Shoppable TV in Our Living Rooms

Max Heiderscheid of UIC Digital writes about the opportunities that shoppable TV brings and what challenges lie ahead in weaving together the fabrics of content and commerce within the sanctity of our living rooms.

The Future of Sports Viewing: Free Agent Fans

Matt Del Percio of Altman Solon discusses their 2023 Global Sports Survey, highlighting the current fragmentation of the streaming sports media landscape that has allowed sports fans to be "free agents" who pick and choose services to pay for and why broadcasters must now rethink their monetization models.

Fan-Focused Future: Hyper-Personalization is Elevating Sports Streaming Experiences

Allan Nicholson at Harmonic discusses the challenges and significance of personalization in live sports streaming today, and he outlines innovative personalization strategies, emphasizing the critical role of advertising technology in personalization with a focus on targeted ads that enhance monetization opportunities.

How Open Caching is Enabling Broadcast-Scalable Streaming Success

Rachel Kahana Samet of Qwilt discusses how open caching enables broadcast-scalable streaming success, especially for live sports broadcasting.

What’s Next for Streaming: The Union of Content, Advertising, and Interactive Experiences

Raman Abrol of Vubiquity and Amdocs discusses the next stages for streaming: the union of content, advertising, and interactive experiences.

As Netflix Makes Its Gaming Play, Can It Avoid Alienating Users?

Netflix, which can trace its roots back to a DVD-by-mail rental business model, has mostly blazed its own trail through what was - and in some ways still is - the undiscovered territory that is the streaming video market. But how will Netflix do with its recent move into the gaming space? Aaron Jacobson of Zollpa Games explores the implications for the mega streamer.

How Direct-to-Consumer Regional Sports Networks Use OTT & Companion Content for Android, Apple, Roku, Xbox & FireTV

Disrupted by the soaring costs of live game rights, changing viewing patterns, and the continuing trend by consumers to cut cable services in favor of streaming platforms, many regional sports networks (RSNs) are in meltdown. Rick Allen of ViewLift writes about the innovative ways that RSNs have adapted with new models using OTT & companion content for Android, Apple, Roku, Xbox & FireTV.

Post-Game Strategies to Help Brands Win the Super Bowl

In just a few months, the majority of Americans will be sitting down for one of the biggest events of the year - the Super Bowl. The big game is more than just an iconic time for sports fans, beer, and chicken wings, it's also one of the biggest and most talked about days of the year for advertising. Jenn Chen, President and CRO at Connatix, outlines the best strategies for maximizing advertising effectiveness after the game.

Instant Replay: Streaming Media Connect November 2023

Streaming Media presented its 12th Connect virtual conference November 13 - 16, with media industry cartographer Evan Shapiro as host and MC. Shapiro kicked off the event with a dynamic keynote, digging deep into the Q3 earnings call data to hold the spin doctors accountable and giving an unvarnished view of the industry. Other highlights included The Future of Streaming with Shobana Radhakrishnan, Senior Director of Engineering at Google TV, and several panels covering topics such as Cloud Workflows for Streaming and CTV, Optimizing Live Streams at Scale, How Codec Patent Pools Will Impact Streaming in 2024, Making Live Streaming and VOD More Accessible, Live Streaming Technology Trends, and more.

YouTube Tests Its Advertising Sway--Side-Stepping Standards, Winning Budgets

YouTube may be too big to ignore. The question for advertisers might be - is it so big that it doesn't have to play by the rules? Hunter Terry of Lotame discusses many of the unusual and unexpected advertising advantages that YouTube currently possesses and what that means for the overall CTV advertising industry.

The Pivotal Role of Real-Time Stream Monitoring in Elevating Live Sports Streaming Quality

Anupama Anantharaman of Interra Systems explores the crucial role that media content QC and monitoring plays in delivering live sports content to viewers and the significance of media content QC and monitoring as the final step in assuring high-quality streaming for live sports events.

Instant Replay: Streaming Media Connect 2023

ICYMI--Streaming Media presented its 11th Connect virtual conference August 22-24, with Evan Shapiro as host and MC, a cracking keynote from NBCUniversal VP Quincy Olatunde, and 12 dynamic panel discussions featuring industry luminaries sharing their expertise on topics ranging from OTT to FAST to generative AI to emerging codecs to edge delivery to streaming at scale and more. The full archived conference is available right here!

Musk vs. Zuckerberg: The Future of Interactive Livestreaming Takes Center Stage

Vanessa Mullin of Agora discusses the much-anticipated - and undeniably bizarre - live-streamed fight match between tech titans Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg, and the ways that both X and Meta can extract maximum value from streaming this event.

How ESPN Could Break the Cable TV Model

Ian Greenblatt of JD Power discusses the rise of ESPN, its entrenchment as a cable TV subscription must for any sports fan, and why it is now poised to unravel cable bundles with the launch of a possible full standalone streaming platform.

Netflix and the Challenges of Live Streaming

Brad Altfest of Agora discusses Netflix's move into live sports streaming and the challenges they and other established platforms face in managing large-scale live-streaming events.

Where Does Attention Lead? Why You Need to Link Attention Measurement to Outcomes

Chris Kelly of Upwave discusses why attention is one of the most discussed topics in marketing today, and he outlines what that attention is worth, where it leads, and why there is a need for standardization in the field.