Video dominates the internet, so much so that Cisco has predicted that 82% of all IP traffic will be video by 2022. COVID-19 has goosed that growth. Streaming video, especially to mobile, is globally essential for work, entertainment, and health. At the peak of the lockdown, mobile networks held up remarkably well to the strain of additional data traffic, as work-from-home data usage spiked dramatically. For instance, AT&T reported a 22% increase in its core network traffic and a 30% increase in wireless voice minutes. The new combined T-Mobile/Sprint saw mobile hotspot usage spike 60%, while tethering was up 57% for T-Mobile and 70% for Sprint. To get more news about 39bet-casino trực tuyến-sicbo-máy đánh bạc- cờ bạc onl- cờ bạc trực tuyến, you can visit official website.

In April 2020, Akamai CEO Tom Leighton noted that global internet traffic increased by about 30% during the previous month. "That's about 10 times normal, and it means we've seen an entire year's worth of growth in internet traffic in just the past few weeks. And that's without any live sports streaming."

A report from Conviva shows that between Q3 2019 and Q3 2020, the time spent watching streamed video on mobile rose 30% globally, with video on demand seeing 34% growth and live content up by 16%. Grand View Research calculates that the global video streaming market will reach $223.98 billion by 2028. That's a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 21%, and live video will show the fastest growth.
Last year's suspended animation exposed the structural issues that have long plagued the sports and sports broadcast industry. Digital engagement led by live streaming offers a way out, but at the cost of a seismic jolt to business models.

The need is dire. According to Pete Giorgio, the U.S. sports practice leader at Deloitte, NFL teams likely lost an estimated $5.5 billion in stadium revenue. The company's 2021 U.S. sports outlook says that because the NBA finished its 2019–2020 regular season and playoffs in a fanless "bubble," it likely lost about $500 million.

It's imperative to find ways to bring fans back to arenas and to create alternative sources of revenue in 2021. Deloitte's prescription is stark: Sports leagues and athletes should move beyond traditional broadcasts and start interacting directly with their fans. "First and foremost," the company says, "it's critical that sports organizations invest in the infrastructure required to power digital channels, streaming platforms, and augmented and virtual reality solutions."

Ampere also notes that the suspension of live sports may have had a long-term impact on fans and claims that it affects their propensity to pay to access sports on TV. Its Q3 2020 polling shows that in 22 markets, 34% of sports fans are willing to pay to access at least one sport, which is down from 42% in Q3 2019. This trend is sharpest in Europe and North America.

Reduced incomes and higher unemployment are two reasons for this shift, but Ampere also points to a greater share of the household budget going to premium subscription video-on-demand channels. However, Ampere believes this has not yet translated into widespread premium pay TV sports cancellations.

"The next twelve months will prove crucial for live sports," says Minal Modha, consumer research lead at Ampere. "As broadcasters begin to sign new rights deals or renew current contracts, many will seek to leverage the pandemic to reduce fees. If consumers do begin to cut the cord, this will only provide further ammunition and may see a widespread re-evaluation of sports rights."

It's not as if sports clubs and franchises are blindsided. A report from MediaKind finds that while most sports rightsholders still define their direct-to-consumer (D2C) platform as complementary to broadcast, they now also see it as an essential part of their future distribution strategy and of building direct touchpoints with fans. In addition, the report says that the user experience bar is rising from one of pure entertainment, or presentation, to one of engagement, or interactivity. It shows an even split between rights­holders who use their D2C platform as a content hub only and those who explore a whole range of fan engagement tools to exploit OTT's full capabilities.

"D2C platforms … now form an essential part of any strategy for live sport," asserts Raul Aldrey, chief product officer at MediaKind. "While current D2C services are largely representative of an emerging market, this sector is ripe for experimentation, exploration, trial and error, innovation, creativity, and risk-taking—with big rewards for those that get it right."