With the return of domestic football, Eric Gallier, VP, video customer solutions at Harmonic, explores the current issues facing service providers offering live sports streaming, and highlights technology innovations that simplify and transform the fan experience
By Contributor
Published: August 4, 2022
With the return of domestic football, Eric Gallier, VP, video customer solutions at Harmonic, explores the current issues facing service providers offering live sports streaming, and highlights technology innovations that simplify and transform the fan experience
target=_blank title=Share on LinkedIn class=share-linkedin>
Advances in live streaming have paved the way for the sports industry to reach more fans, wherever they are in the world. As the demand for more live sports content grows (with the sports live streaming market estimated to grow to $87 billion by 2028, from $18 billion in 2020), service providers, media companies and sports federations are competing for eyeballs and looking for ways to differentiate their sports TV services with more relevant content, and better and more compelling user experiences in order to reduce churn, keep fans engaged, and create platforms that sports fans are glued to.
Streaming live events at scale with high resiliency, pristine video quality and scalable targeted advertising is challenging, even under the best conditions. This article will explore the current issues facing service providers offering live sports streaming. In addition, it will highlight technology innovations that simplify live streaming and transform the fan experience.
Live Sports Streaming Challenges and Solutions Streaming of live sports events is accelerating; however, there are some challenges that need to be addressed, including scaling, latency and quality issues. Leveraging innovations such as geo-redundant clouds, content-aware encoding and more, video service providers can bring the outstanding live sports streaming experiences to audiences worldwide.
Scaling during live events Scaling live sports streaming services for high volumes of viewers on the fly is one of the biggest challenges video service providers, media companies and sports federations face today. If viewership suddenly skyrockets, service providers need to be able to adapt to scale in real time.
With the cloud, they can do that. The cloud is extremely robust for live sports streaming. Leveraging cloud-neutral solutions running on any of the major cloud platforms, simultaneously, service providers can ensure a high-quality streaming experience for sports fans.
A key advantage of using the cloud during a sporting event is being able to unlock geo-redundancy. Geo-redundancy involves deploying the same cloud platform in two different regions or using two different cloud vendors. Under a geo-redundant approach, the same source is fed into multiple synchronised clouds. After ingest, the video streams are packaged and delivered to the CDN simultaneously.
If there is a node failure in one of the regions, the CDN will simply pull from another one. If there's a full blown outage in the cloud, the CDN will pull from the other cloud. That combination will assure that the streaming service is always up and running, no matter the size of the event.
Driving viewer engagement The live sports streaming market is packed with competition, and it has become imperative for video service providers to stand out. Providers can differentiate their offerings and drive viewer engagement by offering advanced features such as multi-camera views, real-time stats and watch together services.
By creating a connection between viewers, watch together has shown to ignite engagement. However, the live streams need to be delivered synchronously to all connected users. A minimum delay of five seconds for content delivery is recommended. Utilising a cloud streaming platform that supports CMAF low-latency properties, video service providers can synchronise all of the clients, ensuring sub-second latency.
Multiview live streaming provides sports fans with multiple camera angles of a scene, enabling viewers to choose the angle that they want to watch. Cloud-based streaming platforms are facilitating the delivery of multiview services, allowing service providers to resolve potential scalability, latency and quality issues.
Delivering targeted advertising at scale According to a recent report by Research and Markets, U.S. revenue for ad-supported streaming platforms will triple between 2020 and 2026 to $31 billion. Delivering personalised content, including targeted advertisements, can help service providers enhance live sports streaming experiences and create new revenue opportunities with little or no additional investment.
During a large sporting event, service providers may be handling 10 million ad stitches or ad insertions a day. Having a streaming platform with scale-out capabilities is very important. In particular, cloud-based DAI solutions with manifest manipulation enable custom manifests to be created for each user in real time, bringing a whole new meaning to live streaming.
Managing video blackouts for live events Video blackouts are common in the sports video streaming world and occur as a result of complex domestic and international licensing contracts between video service providers, sports leagues, programme producers, television networks, film distributors and content owners. By substituting content, video service providers can soften revenue loss and keep viewers engaged.
Yet, managing blackout rules and replacing the blacked-out game with other live content can be complex. Cloud streaming platforms with advanced content stitching capabilities, including support for the SCTE 224 standard, allow video service providers to flawlessly replace content during blackouts based on end-user location and d
Europe Stories
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
01/05/2026
January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...
01/04/2026
January 4 2026, 18:00 (PST) DOLBY AND DOUYIN EMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATON OF CREATORS WITH DOLBY VISION
Douyin Users Can Now Create And Share Videos With Stun...
28/01/2026
Music discovery should feel intuitive and personal. That's why we're continuing to give you more control, so you can ask for what you want, shape what y...
28/01/2026
Today, Charlie Hellman, Spotify's Head of Music, shared the following note on the Spotify for Artists blog that the company paid out more than $11 billion t...
28/01/2026
As demand for more complex live sports coverage grows, Balkan broadcast specialist MVP has upgraded its flagship HD1 progressive OB truck with the installation ...
28/01/2026
Luxembourg, January 26, 2026 - SES S.A. ( SES or the Company ), a leading space solutions company, acknowledges the credit rating action announced by Fitch to...
28/01/2026
Rohde & Schwarz to host 2026 edition of its online event Demystifying EMC Rohde & Schwarz invites the global EMC community to join a crucial discussion on pre...
28/01/2026
Stadtwerke Wolfhagen Modernize Customer Management with AEP.energysuite from Arv...
27/01/2026
Click for Japanese version
Tokyo, Japan - January 27, 2026 - Akamai Technolo...
27/01/2026
Today, Spotify is proud to support our partner Backline, an industry-leading men...
27/01/2026
With nearly 29 million monthly listeners and clear momentum on Spotify, Net n Ve...
27/01/2026
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({ content_source:......
27/01/2026
New agreement for uninterrupted UHF connectivity for Australian Defence Force through 2033, With Options Extending to 2041
Luxembourg, January 13, 2026 - Satel...
27/01/2026
Tuesday 27 January 2026
SNL UK creative team expands as Pauli Lovejoy, Annie Ha...
27/01/2026
RT Supporting the Arts is delighted to support a dynamic programme of cultural events taking place across Ireland this February. From visual art, film, music, ...
26/01/2026
Music videos play a huge part in how fans connect with their favorite songs, but...
26/01/2026
Wuppertal January 26, 2026
Riedel and Media Tailor Deliver Unified Broadcast a...
26/01/2026
26 Jan 2026
VEON Unveils the New Beeline Uzbekistan Network Operations Center, ...
26/01/2026
Bookish is created by and stars Mark Gatiss
Images available HERE
Following th...
26/01/2026
Monday 26 January 2026
New Sky Original Series explores Entertainment Juggernaut, The X Factor
Sky today confirmed it has greenlit a premium, definitive docum...
26/01/2026
Monday 26 January 2026
Sky confirms major investment to transform Livingston ca...
26/01/2026
Software for Stable Data Management and Lasting Business Success in Uncertain Ti...
26/01/2026
RT is today publishing a statistical summary of the Register of External Activities for the third quarter of 2025.
The RT Register of External Activities com...
24/01/2026
RT and Virgin Media Television kick off comprehensive free-to-air coverage of t...
23/01/2026
Staines-upon-Thames, UK, 29 July, 2025 - Yospace, the global leader in Dynamic A...
23/01/2026
Spotify's annual Best New Artist celebration honors the rising stars whose talent, creativity, and dedication have propelled them to the music industry'...
23/01/2026
Paramount is transforming its operations by unifying the media supply chains of their top brands into a scalable global pipeline.
This transformation enhances ...
23/01/2026
Every delay costs. When a subtitle fails QC, even the smallest issue can mean missed deadlines, extra vendor costs, or frustrated teams. The new Accurate.Video ...
23/01/2026
Find out where Sare and Suze are now on RT One and RT Player Thursday 29 January at 10.15pm
Hit drama SisterS, created by, written by and starring real-life ...
23/01/2026
Friday 23 January 2026
Sky appoints Lisa Clark as Commissioning Executive for SNL UK
Lisa Clark headshot
PNG (468KB)
Lisa Clark joins Sky as Commissioning E...
23/01/2026
RT is delighted to announce that the RT and F s ireann / Screen Ireland supported short film Retirement Plan has been nominated for Best Animated Short at th...
22/01/2026
Last November, Ed Sheeran returned to his musical roots for an intimate, one-nig...
22/01/2026
Every delay costs. When a subtitle fails QC, even the smallest issue can mean missed deadlines, extra vendor costs, or frustrated teams. The new Accurate.Video ...
22/01/2026
Thursday 29 January 9:35pm on RT 2 and RT Player
The dating show returns with something old, something new and a dater you may already know
Thursday evenings...
22/01/2026
Rohde & Schwarz, Qualcomm, and Motorola demonstrate successful 5G Broadcast comp...
22/01/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
21/01/2026
Wednesday 21 January 2026
Backing Britain on the global stage: Sky becomes an o...
21/01/2026
Fox Corporation Executives to Discuss Second Quarter Fiscal 2026 Financial Resul...
21/01/2026
Baselight v7 brings colourists and post-houses smarter mattes, faster workflows and deeper control
FilmLight, known for its detailed colour toolset and longsta...
21/01/2026
RT News is pleased to announce the appointment of Jackie Fox as its new Washington Correspondent. Jackie is a multimedia journalist with RT News and has repor...
19/01/2026
Monday 19 January 2026
Sky News reinvents News at Ten for the modern audience with The Wrap
Sky News today announces The Wrap, a bold evolution of its 10pm ou...
19/01/2026
DPA Microphones is striking a new chord in piano miking with the debut of its DPK2015 Piano Stereo Kit, an out-of-the-box, plug-and-play miking solution that ta...
19/01/2026
DPA Microphones will present its 4099 CORE Instrument Microphone and redesigned...
19/01/2026
Trianel relies on Arvato Systems for future-proof data center operations
Moving to the cloud: Arvato Systems implements extensive IT migration project
Migrat...
19/01/2026
Celebrating 21 Years of the RT Choice Music Prize
RT Choice Music Prize
In association with IMRO and IRMA
Irish Album of the Year 2025 - Shortlist Announce...
18/01/2026
January 18 2026, 21:30 (PST) Dolby Cinema Arrives in Bengaluru: Dolby Laborator...
16/01/2026
The start of a new year brings fresh possibilities. Whether you're diving in with big goals or simply setting new intentions, audiobooks can bring inspirati...
With the return of domestic football, Eric Gallier, VP, video customer solutions at Harmonic, explores the current issues facing service providers offering live sports streaming, and highlights technology innovations that simplify and transform the fan experience
