Today, there is a growing demand for live video streaming, especially sports events. According to Verified Market Research, the sports online live video streaming market — valued at $27.93 billion in 2024 — is predicted to reach $133.98 billion by 2031, growing at a CAGR of 24.64% from 2024 to 2031. This growth is being driven by innovations in streaming technology. A surge of interactive features and the growing demand for immersive experiences has taken live streaming to a new level. Live sports streaming goes beyond just watching the event; it’s an immersive experience defined by real-time stats, instant replays, personalised content and targeted advertising.
As live streaming services evolve, monetising video content continues to take centre stage. Rethink Research predicts that sports media rights revenues for the top 16 global leagues will grow from $45 billion in 2023 to $68.8 billion in 2028. The ever-increasing costs associated with sports rights acquisition have created a pressing demand for innovative monetisation techniques for live sports streaming — without sacrificing fan engagement.
Key trends reshaping the monetisation of live sports streaming
Several factors are driving the demand for more advanced monetisation techniques in live video streaming. First and foremost, viewers want less intrusive live sports streaming experiences. With advancements in data analysis, advertising content can now be aligned with the specific interests of individual viewers. This increases the effectiveness of advertisements and improves the viewer experience by making ads more relevant and less intrusive.
Furthermore, viewers crave personalisation. Addressable advertising enables video service providers to address the demand for relevant content. Until recently, most targeted advertising focused on content, demographics, or geography. However, a shift is occurring. Streaming platforms are exploring more advanced targeting methods to reach specific audience segments and achieve higher CPMs.
Common obstacles when implementing advanced ads for live streaming
Delivering addressable ads in the live video streaming environment presents broadcasters and video service providers with several challenges. The siloed nature of video streaming complicates the tracking of ads, campaign rules, execution guidelines, monetisation policies, and more across platforms. This can lead to viewers becoming over-saturated by seeing the same ad repeatedly on different devices, which is a significant turnoff. Various technologies exist for tracking ads, and the desire for proprietary ad tech stacks exacerbates this problem.
In the live video streaming environment, scalability and reliability are also obstacles. Broadcasters and video service providers need a streaming platform that can scale to support millions of simultaneous viewers in a way that’s unobtrusive to end users. Moreover, live video streaming should be seamless. Content must be delivered reliably without any glitches, buffering, dropped black frames, or other issues that can impact a viewer’s quality of experience and ultimately reduce their satisfaction when watching live events.
The future of live streaming monetisation
Server-side ad insertion (SSAI) is essential for monetising sports streaming services, offering broadcasters and service providers an opportunity to tap into a projected multi-billion dollars of ad spend. As video service providers explore more innovative monetisation approaches, a new targeted ad technique called in-stream advertising is transforming live video streaming. In-stream advertising with new split-screen ad formats creates a new premium inventory during live programming events, empowering advertisers to reach viewers without disrupting the viewing experience and brands. The benefit for agencies and publishers is increased monetisation. The introduction of new ad formats and in-content advertising leads to a roughly 25% increase in CPMs for certain inventory types.
Through in-stream advertising, broadcasters and video service providers can utilise SSAI to introduce new addressable ad formats such as double-box and dynamic L-bars. These split-screen ads can be strategically placed during both high-action and low-action moments of live events, either manually or through automated triggers from external data feeds. Integrating personalised split-screen inventory dynamically within live programming not only boosts brand visibility but also enhances monetisation opportunities for live events, especially in sports.
In addition, AI technologies are revolutionising the monetisation of live video streaming. With state-of-the-art AI speech synthesis and translation technologies such as Camb.ai, video service providers can translate live sports events into multiple different languages in near real time, enabling them to expand their reach and serve new markets. AI drastically speeds up the multilanguage transcription process, empowering video service providers to stream live sports events to other countries and regions around the world without paying the high costs typically associated with transcription.
AI also enables broadcasters and video service providers to produce second-screen content such as highlight reels and video clips faster than ever. Research shows that the younger generation of viewers enjoy watching bite-sized video clips vs. the entire event. According to IBM, 64% of fans engaging in additional sports content are viewing highlight videos of best moments; 48% are consuming post-match recaps and analysis. Having an AI toolset that can quickly and cost-effectively produce highlights reels is valuable, opening up additional opportunities for monetisation.
Conclusion
To stay competitive, the future of monetisation for live video streaming will hinge on hyper-personalised, in-stream advertising. Furthermore, video service providers must leverage advanced technologies beyond SSAI, embracing real-time data processing and machine learning to tailor advertising messages with unprecedented precision. The shift toward in-stream advertising and AI will allow broadcasters and service providers to stay ahead in the evolving live sports streaming landscape.
As audience preferences and technological advancements continue to reshape the digital entertainment landscape, streaming platforms must continually adapt and innovate. A SaaS solution for targeted advertising offers unparalleled scalability, flexibility and the ability to process data faster using AI, ensuring ads are highly relevant and less disruptive. This dynamic approach will be essential for maintaining competitiveness and boosting revenue streams in the ever-changing market.
