For a long time, it seemed as if lives sports were going to represent a constant within our lives – despite the ever flowing river that is technological development.
While our midnight trips across town to Blockbuster were substituted with at-home rentals, and while progressively more shows left the linear channels in favour of the greener pastures of binge-watching sessions hosted via streaming services like Amazon Video, Netflix, and Hulu, it seemed as if live sports was fated to not abandon linear programming.
The reasons behind our thinking were as much emotional because they were practical. For one thing, linear television represented the simplest way to obtain everyone in the same place, simultaneously. For another, the economy of advertisements appeared to ensure that linear sports programming would remain self-sustaining, typically. Most importantly, it seemed, wrong, somehow, to destroy a process which had remained largely exactly the same for decades. The sense of community ushered in by live sports programming – of millions of households across the country gathering around the Television screen to look at their teams play – was irreplaceable, why enter the center of it and force it to alter?
Still, change took place, and today an increasing number of live sports are taking place via streaming services like Amazon Prime. For some, their bleak anticipations for future years of live sports never came into existence, and they have adapted to the new way of doing things with relative ease; for other people, it continues to be a bone of contention.
Whatever your individual feelings on live sports streaming, it appears like this new way of doing things is here now to remain. But can it ever take over entirely, and should we expect to say goodbye to linear programming for live sports in 2022? Find out more below.
It is Part of a Wider Movement
Some things, like shopping, exclusive music events, and online poker have thrived as a result of moving online; the internet facilitates a far more casual, personalised method of enjoying some of our favourite events and pastimes in the digital realm, instead of travelling across country or committing hours of our time to pursuing them in 'the real world'.
This is, of course, the driving force behind the move to streaming services. Rather than being associated with the timings of linear television, we can watch just as much or as little as we would like, once we want to.
Obviously, the waters get a little muddy around the subject of live sport – and that's likely why a lot of us didn't anticipate this type of decisive move online. Live sport is, obviously, associated with its own timings; whether we watch it on television, or via a streaming service, we still need to be ready at our screens for the first whistle.
Money may be the Driving Force
For many of us, it's natural to connect a certain amount of sentimentality to reside sports. For many years, the tradition has always been largely the same, and anything which becomes enshrouded in habit – and, of course, emotional resonance – achieves this for the long haul.
For those who are up against the move online, the trouble lies in the fact that live sports are driven by exceedingly high price tags, and represent incredibly lucrative ventures for anyone who are able to afford to invest. In addition, for streaming services like Amazon, the emotional resonance fans continue to feel with regards to live sports ensures that the return of investment in to these games will always be worth their while.
In December of 2022, for example, Amazon showcased their first ever exclusive live stream. For fans outside of Arizona and San Francisco, the only method to view the game was via Amazon's service – and their metrics were impressive. It is clear that Amazon, along with other streaming services thinking about live sports, will continue to succeed on this realm whenever we can, and to secure as numerous exclusive rights to games as possible.
Time will inform whether or not linear television will say its final goodbye to live sports this season – or, of course, ever. We can, however, be assured that the games themselves will retain that very same emotional resonance that made them special to begin with.