The rise of school sports streaming

Parents are tuning in to websites in their thousands and are revolutionising the way that school sport is being watched. Gone are the days where parents dutifully dragged themselves across the country to touchlines, boundaries and footpaths. In the 21st Century, sports streaming is now seen as the way forward with sports including rugby and football getting the air time.

In rugby the Natwest Schools Cup has been live streaming matches online via the Youtube platform since 2014. Many of these games have attracting multiple views. One video has even gone viral of Oakham student Tyrees-Johnson-Fisher scoring four tries in a game, with his incredible pace chalking up over 2.5 million views. These streams help to provide valuable analysis in the post-match, as coaches and players alike can rewatch games and identify areas for potential improvement. It also allows parents and supporters who can not make the game or who live far away to catch the game live.

Another key attraction is the potential of seeing futures stars. England rugby stars including Manu Tuilagi and Marland Yarde all appeared in matches in the Natwest schools cup, before going on to find further success at national and international level.

In addition the Rosslyn Park National School Sevens, the largest schoolboy rugby tournament, attracting over 7000 boys and girls every year has streamed matches. The tournament is broadcast by the production company 247.tv which help to provide graphic overlays on the matches. According to Adrian Battersby, the production head, “In the last two to three years the market for school sports filming has really taken off”. Another key part of the Rosslyn Park sevens is the advertising revenue that can be generated through the placing of adverts between matches. The demand for the spaces has seen companies pay upwards of £500 for these slots as well as plans for a second pitch for the 2018 Sevens competition.

In football the English Schools Football Association (ESFA) has also recently started to live stream matches on their official youtube channel. All national cup final matches as well as under 18 matches have been streamed on the platform. This allows pupils to watch their classmates, often in lesson time, with streams being played directly onto large screens. This means that the view count is often a lot lower than the actual number of people watching the game.

The British Universities and Colleges Sport also stream matches between university and college sides, where similarity to the Natwest Schools cup, the final is played at Twickenham Stadium. One of the major difference between these streams and the BUCS streams, is that the BUCS streams have a live comments section. This allows fans to discuss the game events in real time and talk about all the key decisions, adding a further dimension to the novelty of watching streams.

Features such as these could mark a new dawn in school sports viewing, with potential options including more companies getting involved, including Twitch and Periscope. One thing is clear though; sports streaming is here to stay and may even one day be the future.

James Dowden

Hampton School