Yorkshire County Cricket Club to Throw Weight Behind Live Streaming: The Future of Video

The pandemic in 2020 saw football clubs establish dedicated streaming services through their own web presences, allowing fans who were locked out of stadiums to still support their teams. Since then, this has largely continued, with clubs offering international fans access to official streams of games.

Cricket, on the other hand, may be one of the UK’s national sports, but it has often lagged behind somewhat when it comes to coverage and access for fans. It had not quite caught up with its more illustrious cousin and was still largely a non-digital sport when it came to viewership.

However, our very own Yorkshire County Cricket Club is looking to change that by investing heavily in its live streaming services. With a recently acquired sponsorship, YCCC is now establishing a regular streaming service to show all non-televised fixtures.

Streaming Has Achieved Dominance Across Media

It’s clear that the world of media will never be the same, especially when considering entertainment. Ever since services like Netflix and LoveFilm made the jump from postal subscription services to online-only streaming services, we have seen video streaming boom.

However, probably the biggest change has been in the form of live streaming, as is the case with sport. However, this hasn’t been limited to live events like cricket matches or football games.

The online casino has been a popular pastime for many for years. Poker, slots, and table games were quick to be adapted to online sites. However, since the early days where desktop sites were the only outlet for what is known as iGaming, the way they are engaged with has changed.

For example, looking at a top licensed UK site, we can see live casino options are a big draw now, with games managed by a real-life dealer through a live video stream taking front and centre. Without the development of live streaming tech, this wouldn’t be possible and has increased immersion for players.

Live Content Has Become Ubiquitous for Younger Generations

Tangentially related to gaming, live streamed content is now one of the most popular things on the internet. Amazon-owned Twitch began as a streaming service where people would flock to play games live to their viewers.

This led to an influx of online personalities who became celebrities by playing video games to their audiences, connecting with those watching, and discussing current affairs and news in the gaming industry while creating in-game narratives that people tuned into regularly.

As evidence of the unprecedented popularity of platforms such as this, Twitch is now in a position where it is having to cap users’ content at a maximum of 100 hours. That means that streamers are creating so much content that the platform is unable to keep up with the storage demands. This refers to highlights or VOD (video on-demand) content, showing that even when users are unable to tune in live to their favourite streamers, they are getting their content fix at a later date.

Even just a decade ago, this sort of media landscape switch was unthinkable.

YCC Opening Up to a More Youthful, Tech-Savvy Audience

Yorkshire is very much a modern county. Leeds, in particular, has emerged as something of a digital city with a young and well-connected populace. By reaching out to this audience through an in-house streaming service, YCC is placing itself in an advantageous position.

Additionally, it’s something that others in the area can look to as an example. Looking at venues like Belgrave Music Hall, it is possible that they may look at setting up an in-house paid streaming service for music fans to see their live gigs.

If this service can attain a strong audience base and achieve the quality necessary to keep it, it could be a real shot in the arm for cricket across the country. It is a sport that is seen as being outside the mainstream to many in younger generations, especially as fixtures are often played at inconvenient times for those working or studying.

A strong online presence could change that, though, and see more flocking to enjoy the cricket action.