Online Sport Gives a Better Experience Than TV

One of the hottest areas in online video is sports, and that's because online is able to deliver a richer experience. Not only that, but it's an experience fans are willing to pay for.

At the recent Streaming Forum conference in London, experts from Stream UK, Streamworks, and other companies explained why sports has an advantage.

"Why sport?" asked Duncan Burbidge, CEO of Stream UK. "Simply because the user is probably more engaged in watching sport than any other sector. If you give high-quality content to a sports fan, that sports fan's going to pay 2, 4, 6, 8, £10 a month or £10 per event to watch that content. And improvements mean more money, so if you can deliver 1 megabit per second to the end-user, they might be willing to pay £2; 2 megabits per second, you might get £3 out of them."

Online video can deliver more that just video, however; it can also mix in information feeds.

"That increase in money goes even further if you have data feeds which are included with the content," Burbidge said. "If you present it well, if you have betting opportunities associated with it, then again you can get more money from the end-user."

Online video can also provide viewers with a live experience for a range of sports and teams. According to Ray Mia, CEO for Streamworks, live is undergoing tremendous growth.

"Live content on the internet is going through a 1000 percent growth across the board spearheaded by sports," Mia said. "People pay money to watch live content, and we're at the midpoint of that. On-demand has been exploding for years."

For more on online sport video, watch the full discussion below.

Watching Sport Online: Better Than TV?

Moderator: Duncan Burbidge, CEO, Stream UK — UK
Simon Nixon, Client Services Director, Aqueduct — UK
Howard Kitto, Group Chief Technology Officer, Perform Group — UK
Simon Banoub, Marketing Director, Opta Sports — UK
Ray Mia, CEO, Streamworks

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