Tag Archive for: sports streaming

Jessica Glad

Icareus Automates Sports OTT Match Streaming with AI Cameras

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15.5.2025, The Icareus Sports OTT platform now enables over 20 sports to fully automate their game productions and boost revenue through pay-per-view and subscriptions.

Icareus Sports OTT is a cloud-based video platform that empowers sports federations, leagues, and clubs to deliver their own branded video service to fans. The platform allows users to produce, manage, monetize, and publish matches, events, as well as communication and training videos, all without technical expertise.

To fully automate match productions Icareus has integrated AI-based cameras into its platform. This enables a fully automated end-to-end production process: matches are scheduled automatically based on data from the game management system, automatically recorded, monetized, and published on the video service for both live viewing and on-demand access, including coaching use.

AI cameras support automated production in over 20 sports, including football, futsal, ice hockey, basketball, Finnish baseball, floorball, handball, rugby, and lacrosse. The cameras automatically follow the action and deliver high-quality content through single- or multi-camera streams. The solution is suitable for everything from training and junior matches to top-tier competitions.

Icareus Sports OTT with AI camera productions is already supporting football and floorball content delivery.

The Icareus Sports OTT platform also includes:

  • User management (for both end users and admins)
  • Integrations with match data, statistics, and result services
  • Content distribution to all devices including web, mobile, and Smart TVs
  • Fully branded sports portals and applications
  • Flexible monetization options (PPV, subscriptions, advertising)
  • Communication and marketing tools
  • Extensive analytics tools for viewer data and transaction tracking

In addition, coaches and teams gain significant benefits from automated productions:

  • Simplifies and automates the recording of both practices and matches
  • Game recordings are available almost in real time: no waiting needed
  • Easy to search and organize: find matches by team, date, or match type
  • Player-specific feedback: coaches can provide direct feedback using video
  • No manual uploading or sharing: all content is automatically accessible to the right people
  • All material in one place: no need to use multiple systems for video management

Icareus Ltd is a growing and profitable Finnish company specialising in video cloud services, founded in 2001. Icareus Ltd. is a respected operator with extensive experience in live webcasting and cooperation with sports federations. The company has enjoyed successful cooperation with the Finnish Baseball Association, Veikkaus, F-League and Salibandy League, among others.

Our main customers are video professionals such as sports organisations, TV channels, operators and media houses. We have clients from around 60 countries in Asia, the Middle East, Europe, Africa, South and North America.

Icareus Sports OTT solution is a cloud-based video platform that enables sports federations, leagues, and clubs to create their own branded video service. The platform allows users to produce, manage, and publish matches, events, as well as communication and training videos – all without technical expertise. Content can be monetized through pay-per-view, subscriptions, and advertising, with revenue directed straight to clubs or federations. The service supports multi-camera, mobile app and AI camera production. Viewing analytics and user data help enhance the fan experience and marketing efforts. Icareus Sports OTT is already used in football, futsal, floorball, and Finnish baseball.

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Mikko Karppinen

Solving Grassroot Sports Streaming & Monetization

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A paradigm shift is currently underway in the sports industry as content owners are moving towards direct-to-consumer business models. This transformation has primarily begun with top leagues and the ones that lack lucrative TV distribution agreements. Streaming services are found compelling as they allow leagues to redefine how they connect with their fans, partners, and advertisers. OTT has emerged as a new approach to improve leagues’ reach.

However, grassroots sports, despite their potential, have remained largely neglected, partly due to the absence of viable business models. Consequently, this has lead to a situation where most games are streamed on social media platforms, leading to a loss of control over how the sports are portrayed to fans and other stakeholders. 

Solving the grassroots sports streaming and monetization challenge is pivotal for federations, clubs, athletes, and fans alike. Acknowledging the challenges faced by grassroots sports in terms of visibility, control over content, and monetization, 

Icareus’ vision is centered around these three key drivers for change:  

1. Improved game and event discovery,
2. Democratized content production,
3. A sustainable and inclusive business model.

1

One of the primary concerns is the fragmented nature of grassroots sports streaming, scattered across various social media platforms, making it challenging for fans to discover and follow their favorite teams and events. Streaming has become a wild west where federations and clubs have completely lost their control on how their sports is portrayed to fans. The driving change that is needed lies in enhancing game and event discovery, moving it away from social media and consolidating all streaming onto a single user-friendly platform, simplifying the process of game discovery and enhancing the overall fan experience.  

2

The next challenge is to get as many games streamed as possible. We must recognize the importance of inclusive content production, given that it is unfeasible for federations or clubs to manage it centrally.  This necessitates the collective inclusion of team managers, parents, friends, and family to the content production workflows. To facilitate their onboarding, there is a need for user-friendly tools and autonomy for the “grassroots streamers.”

3

The final motivation to get everyone onboard is monetization. A sustainable and mutually beneficial business model is crucial to ensure that all stakeholders find value in the process. This can be achieved by applying the platform economics principle, where most of the revenues can be routed directly to the clubs, without complicated accounting processes. Empowering grassroots sports not only fosters talent development but also taps into new revenue streams within an underserved market. 

Once we can achieve these three key drivers, there will be an explosion of grassroot sports streaming! 

Unfortunately, traditional sports streaming platforms often prioritize major leagues, sidelining grassroots events and tournaments. In response, Icareus has developed a cloud platform that brings all the stakeholders together for the production and consumption of games. At the same time, it improves fan engagement and loyalty. 

Icareus leverages crowdsourcing to turn virtually everyone into content creators, facilitating event and game streaming. The Icareus Sports OTT solution aggregates content from grassroots events within a specific sport, creating a one-stop destination for fans to access games, from top leagues to the smallest matches, all on a single video portal bearing the federation’s or club’s branding. In essence, it gives federations and clubs complete control over how games are streamed, the user experience, and the business model, facilitating a stronger connection with fans. 

Monetization is achieved through subscription models, pay-per-view options, and targeted advertising. Moreover, the platform’s business model ensures that the majority of the revenues generated are directed towards the grassroots teams, a pioneering step in the industry. 

In practice, all beloved sports content, from children’s leagues to senior divisions, can be found from a single source, seamlessly integrated and easily discoverable. By fostering this collaborative and integrated approach to sports streaming, the platform not only amplifies the reach and impact of grassroots sports but also creates a dynamic and engaging environment that benefits everyone involved, from the federations and clubs to the dedicated fans and players. 

In summary

The benefits of this holistic approach extend beyond mere convenience, with the potential to reshape the landscape of grassroots sports streaming, providing a sustainable and profitable model that caters to the needs of all stakeholders. 

Icareus Ltd is an online video cloud and broadcast TV specialist founded in 2001 and having offices in Finland and Spain. Icareus provides video cloud solutions and trusted broadcast TV platforms, and our solutions are enjoyed by millions of consumers via our broadcaster, operator, OTT and OVP customers in over 60 countries.  Combining online and broadcast has been the core of our activities over almost two decades. We’ve been making the change from linear TV to today’s multi-screen experience. 

More information: https://www.icareus.com  

Icareus Sports OTT is a turnkey white-label video cloud solution for sports of all kinds, team or individual, from floorball and football to tennis and martial arts. It offers versatile tools for the production, management, publication and (optionally) commercialization of sports videos and events. Both professional leagues and “grass roots” non-professional sports clubs can make use of this solution. 

More information: https://icareus.com/solutions-for-customer-groups/sports/ 

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Jessica Glad

Find us at Sportel Monaco

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Meet us at Sportel Monaco

The Global Sports Media and Tech Convention

 

23. – 25. October 2023

Grimaldi Forum, Monaco

StandS05

Icareus Video Cloud for Sports

In the Icareus Video Cloud, you produce, manage and publish both communication videos and events without technical know-how. Video players, pages, virtual events and portals that match your brand guarantee a consistent user experience for viewers, so your message gets across effectively.

Are you working in sports federations, leagues, or other professional sports organizations? The use of streaming services in sports is continuously growing. Icareus Video Cloud for Sports is a GDPR-compliant and fully brandable streaming platform tailored for sports organizations. It can be used for:

  • Streaming services for national or international sports and leagues, promoting the sport.
  • Grassroots (amateur and junior) sports video services with easy match production, including a mobile app.
  • Streaming tournaments and competition events.
  • Organizational communication, marketing, and training, including video editing, video management, and publishing.

Find us at IBC2024!

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11 highlights of the 11th HbbTV Symposium 

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