Although the first live sporting event to be live streamed was the Ohio State spring football in 2001, it wasn’t until Amazon first acquired the rights to stream the NFL in 2017 that the world of online sports streaming really took off. Today, millions of people in the UK and around the world stream live sporting events online, with the US seeing more than 60million tune in to digital sports streaming services last year alone.
In the digital world that we are living in, by all accounts, streaming sports should be easy. After all, anyone can do it if they have a phone or a laptop at hand. With no need to rush home to switch on the television, or subscribe to a particular sports channel, streaming sports should be the number one method in which people experience their favourite games in 2023. So why isn’t it?
The Issue With Live Sports Streaming
The most popular way to stream sports is through a PC, which you would think has the capability to stream a game without any issues. But despite new tech and 5G capabilities, streaming any type of live content can cause issues if your PC isn’t fine-tuned to perfection – it’s a frequent bugbear for gamers in particular.
To be fair, things have got better in this area. Today, internet users are able to play online games like slots, table games with a live dealer, and more, all through their laptops or their phone without any issues. This, of course, has been a hitting point for the industry in general – more convenience, means more people who want to try it out and get involved. When it comes to PC games, however, most have massive online servers that require gamers to keep on top of their PC updates and tweaks to reach peak performance. The two formats, however, offer different things. Casino games don’t require a strong CPU to run – they’re simple, easy, and convenient. PC games require more energy and power, and the same is true for sports.
If you’re watching a live stream of a football game, for instance, then the chances are you will run across some issues that make the performance poor or laggy. This happens for a number of reasons. The first is that this is a television broadcast, not a game-streaming broadcast. This means the broadcast has to be encoded, passing it to an internet medium, and after that, the encoded stream has to be moved to a CDN, which is where you will get your stream. As well as this, every device is different. Your PC might not be as well equipped to stream a live sports event as, say, a gaming PC, and the same goes for smartphones. With this in mind, you’ve got to do a few things yourself to fix those issues and watch sports without any avoidable interruptions.
First Off, Update Your CPU
As mentioned before, different types of streams or games are going to be processed on your CPU. So, how do you make sure your video streams aren’t laggy? Get a better CPU! It really is that simple. More than any other component, a good CPU should be able to handle multiple applications and run a sports streaming event without any issues – and often at the same time. The best PC processors in 2023 include the AMD Ryzen 9 5900X and the Alienware Aurora R15, so take a look online and get something that will take on the highest-quality streams.
Next, Check Your Network
You might not have thought about checking your broadband capabilities, especially if you manage to play games without any issues. But as explained, playing FIFA and watching a live FA Cup game can be a different ballpark, and if you’re going to spend money on a new CPU, you’ll want to make sure that it’s getting the help it needs to stream perfectly. Make sure you are with an ISP that offers good speeds, and we recommend having download speeds of around 100 to 150 MBs. By doing this, not only can you watch your FA Cup game, you can play FIFA and keep up with the latest FA Cup news at the same time!
Upgrading And Updating
There are a few other tips you can carry out to help your streaming performance. The first is to upgrade your RAM. Your RAM allows your PC to perform multiple tasks, which is why it’s so
important if you are streaming sports and carrying out other operations. If you have RAM of 2GB, then upgrade to 4GB. If you have 4GB, then upgrade to 8GB, and so on. You should also uninstall all the programs that you don’t need, as they can slow down your system and affect a broadcast. Make sure to also carry out constant updates where required, shut down your PC regularly, and close out your tabs. Small things like this might seem inconsequential, but they can make a big difference when it comes to live sports streaming and ensuring you never miss a goal!
