Driving Growth in Live Coverage of Athletics

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By Laust

People who love sports and athletics competitions now have more options for viewing and following than they’ve ever had before. Want to know exactly what is happening in a race or championship? You can look online and find the results in seconds, but what’s more, there are also more ways to actually stream and view the competitions, many of which are driven by gambling and broadcasting companies as they uncover the global appeal of athletics.

How Gambling Changed Live Coverage

“Live” is a keyword in the gambling industry, and the fact that consumers are looking for live connections has helped to build an infrastructure that can provide exactly this. Gamblers want to see what is unfolding live in pretty much every scenario whether they are playing casino games and table games or whether they are gambling on athletic events.

Live gambling has become a mainstream way of playing table games and traditional casino games, providing proof of concept for streaming in other industries and types of gambling. Players can connect to a live dealer or croupier to play online roulette, and a camera fires the signal over high-speed internet. Players can see what a dealer is doing and how the roulette wheel falls even if they are on the other side of the country – this same infrastructure is then extrapolated and used for sports and of course, athletics.

Internet connections can now support high-speed streaming reliably, which means players can log in and watch sports and athletics tournaments as well as play live casino games. Speedy and reliable net coverage is not just about the end user, casinos and gambling brands have spent a lot of time and effort creating the infrastructure to stream online, such as broadcasting equipment and sometimes even digital rights to streams that allow them to open this up to customers.

Viewers of athletics may be able to see races and events on gambling apps if they log in, some have additional restrictions though, and may require bets to be placed to open up these streams and make them available to others.

The value of the casino industry is currently estimated at over $260 billion globally, and this doesn’t even take into account sports gambling, so it shows the huge level of finance going into new technologies.

Live Coverage on Social Media

Keeping track of what is happening in athletics tournaments can be easier than ever before on social media with thousands of people giving their opinions about events and reporting on what is going on.

Watching may not always be possible on these platforms but social media has been huge for fans of athletics as they are able to join groups and find ways to follow their favorite athletes. Instagram and similar social sites also provide a peek behind the curtain in the life of an athlete as many of them provide insights into their training and daily life even when not competing.

Streaming Platforms Battle For Coverage

Cable and satellite television used to be the main ways in which people watched sports, with special channels offering coverage of athletics. Some of the huge events such as the Olympics have also seen coverage on terrestrial channels and can be watched by millions. In fact, recent Olympic tournaments have seen billions of viewers all over the world.

The new players in the industry are vying for new offerings for their players, and the World Athletics Championships in Budapest in 2023 were also available to watch via Amazon Prime in some locations and Discovery Plus in others. Streaming giants are always looking for new ways they can offer sports and athletics for their customers and the rights tend to be in demand. Amazon and Discovery Plus are just two examples of streaming platforms, and you will also see ESPN and a variety of other sports networks trying to bring coverage of athletic events to their customer base.

Live streaming coverage is a big plus point for users now, especially as the days of having to sit in front of the television to watch are gone, people can track their favorite athletes and big, global tournaments all over the world using their phone, tablet, or laptop, and follow in a way that suits them, providing an opportunity for streaming platforms to reach new people.

Conclusion

People don’t want to wait until newspapers and blogs cover the event afterward to see who finished first in the race or who advanced to the next round in an athletics tournament. Live is the way of the world in 2024, which means streaming platforms and other live ways to follow online can benefit from the huge audience of athletics. Events happen all-year-round, and there is constantly a market for people to log in and track their favorite athletes or follow those from their home country.

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