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Live streaming sports is a great way to win more fans – even across time zones by saving live streams so that people can watch them back. Platforms like YouTube and Twitch are accessible and budget-friendly to all sports teams, so long as you have a decent camera and the right sports overlays.
Live streaming your unique sporting event creates new avenues for income. At the very least, you can monetize your live streams through platforms, and even win sponsorships. Large brands in your country might see your live stream as an opportunity to reach foreign markets, and might be more likely to sponsor your event.
Some say sports streaming is the most evergreen linear streaming format for modern audiences. However, unusual sports have a competitive advantage over more widely played and recognised ones like soccer, basketball or tennis.
Many types of unusual sport matches are rarely picked up by big sports channels and TV broadcasters, so you have very little competition offering what you have. If you’re trying to break into the market as a sports or news broadcaster, this is a great place to start.
Here are a few unusual sport matches that are broadcasted or live streamed around the world that you might not have heard before – and some that you might already know.
This ancient and brutal sport – based in Florence, Italy – is a combination of soccer, rugby, and street fighting. Games are played with four teams of 27 players. There are very few rules (choking and punching are allowed), and the main aim is to get the ball in the opponent’s goal. Calcio storico’s elaborate costumes, when paired with chaos and violence, is a wildly entertaining sport to watch, no matter how familiar you are with the rules.
Cheese running was reintroduced to international audiences when it made an appearance in Netflix’s We Are The Champions docuseries. This sport event takes place annually in Brockworth, England, where competitors from around the world chase a 9-pound wheel of Gloucester cheese as fast as they can down a very steep hill. The competition is witnessed by several spectators and was recently live reported by the BBC.
Certain sports have a massive following in specific regions – but are completely unknown to other parts of the world. Live streaming your locally popular sport helps popularize it among global audiences and quickly garner attention from brand-new fans. Here are just a few examples of sporting events that have avid fans at home, and should have an even bigger following around the world.
Sepak takraw (also known as kick volleyball) has long been widely popular among people of all backgrounds in Southeast Asia, and is growing in Asia – now joining the ranks of other popular sports in the Asian Games. In sepak takraw, teams of three use their feet, knees, chest and head to pass a rattan ball over the net. Games often feature incredible athletic moves and gravity-defying kicks, drawing several viewers in person and online.
Dragon boat racing has been been an internationally celebrated sport for a some time. In addition to the international dragon boat competition hosted in Hong Kong, people also race dragon boats from the UK to Canada to Australia, and features in the Paris Olympics as a demonstration sport.
Dragon boats are usually traditional Chinese boats rigged with decorative Chinese dragon heads and tails. Each boat has up to 20 paddlers, a drummer keeping paddlers in unison, and a helmsperson to guide the boat.
Here at uno, we’re always designing and creating new professional overlays which are customizable and compatible with whatever live stream you’re planning. But, we also have specific sports overlays for a wide variety of sports – including the more unique ones.
Use our Kabaddi Scoreboard overlay to help international fans keep track of the game.
Not familiar with the rules? In this Indian contact sport, one player – the raider – goes into a group of seven opposing players who try and prevent them from getting back to their side. Kabaddi is one of the most watched-sports in India, second only to cricket, and has the potential to make it big on the world stage.
Live stream your next disc golf event with our free, fully-customizable Disc/Frisbee Golf Scoreboard.
Disc golf (also known as frisbee golf) is similar to traditional golf, except players use discs and aim for a disc golf basket within the fewest number of throws. There are usually 9-18 ‘holes’ in a disc golf course. Although still a fringe sport in the United States, disc golf is far more accessible to all ages and skill levels than traditional golf and ultimate frisbee.
Our Gaelic Games scorebug can be used for various Gaelic Games sports, and are especially useful for Gaelic football and hurling. The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) actually includes four indigenous Irish games – hurling, Gaelic football, handball, and rounders.
Gaelic football is a game played with a round football that can be caught, kicked and hand-passed, and can be carried in the hand for four steps. Gaelic hurling, meanwhile, is a stick and ball game that combines skills commonly seen in lacrosse, field hockey, and baseball. The aim of the game is to hit the ball (the sliotar) through H-shaped goals over the bar or into the net. When played by women, the game is called camogie.
No matter what games you play or how you play them, it’s worth sharing it with fans online through live stream.
Here at uno, we have a wide range of player bios, scoreboards, and player data visualizations, including for ax-throwing, pickleball, and more! Check out our library of overlays and find the sports overlay for your game – or reach out to us on Discord. We’re constantly designing and releasing new graphics and always welcome your input.
