(Guest article courtesy of Techwarn)
Whether you are just about to get started with sports streaming or you have been doing so for some time now, here are some of the things that you should avoid. If you want the best experience out of your streaming sessions, that is.
Illegal streaming websites
There are a lot of sites out there that will promise to get you free game streams for sports like soccer and wrestling when you get on them. To be candid, they deliver on this promise more times than not. After all, that is why many people keep going back to them.
If that is also where you get your sports streams from, you are doing yourself more harm than good.
For one, it is illegal for them to show the content at all – and you are also contributing to that crime. Likewise, the fact that they are offering you free streams means that they want to make their money back somewhere else. Thus, it is not uncommon to see numerous ads and pop-ups that will ruin this streaming experience for you.
Besides just ruining the experience, know that no self-respecting business will want their ads to go on these sites. This puts you at risk of being scammed or having your data stolen too.
In short, you are paying too much for watching the games free anyways.
Did you know: the live streaming market is estimated to grow to more than $70bn (USD) by 2021.
Sites that offer legal free streaming
- ESPN is synonymous with cable sports, offering a reliable streaming service on ESPN.com for major sports such as American football, basketball, and baseball. It’s worth noting that only some of the streams on ESPN.com are free and the biggest games require an account attached to a paid subscription.
- Facebook Watch is a video platform from the social media giants that offers limited sports streams for MLB, soccer, and women’s basketball. But on the unofficial side, there are plenty of other sports you can get into.
- Red Bull is a leading name in unique and extreme sports. Its online streaming service Red Bull TV offers streams for all kinds of adventure sports like rally driving, mountain climbing, skiing, and surfing.
Public Wi-Fi
Due to the time spent streaming and the data consumption that comes with that, public Wi-Fi becomes a juicy option. You can just walk into a coffee shop or go to the park and stream the games without having to incur a cost for data.
While that might be convenient and cost-saving, you are also putting yourself at a big risk.
Public Wi-Fi networks lack the basic encryptions to properly protect you when browsing the internet. That makes you an easy target for hackers who can snoop on you and steal your internet data. They can also hijack your conversations and install malware on your device this way.
This is why we advise that you either don’t use these networks or use a secure VPN to encrypt your connection when on one.
Slow internet
Sports streaming on the internet requires a fast internet connection so that you can enjoy the content. You don’t need to go over the top with your settings to watch a game uninterrupted, but you need a strong connection.
As a guide, a standard 4G network will deliver the speeds that you need to stream high-quality sports videos from anywhere in the world. So you can watch that sports documentary you’ve saved for later.
If you feel like you are not getting enough network coverage, it might be time to change your ISP. If just for the sake of streaming your games live, you will come to appreciate it later.
Blackouts
Game blackouts occur when the game promoters want to make sure more people come to see the games live than sit at home. That tells you that it mostly happens when the game for the day is in your backyard.
This is a serious issue with cable – and it has found its way to some games on mobile streaming platforms too.
The good news is that you can do something about this issue if you are a streamer.
You can get a VPN and connect to another server location where the game is not being aired. That will help you escape the location restrictions that the content distributors have used to impose blackouts on you before. Thus, you get to enjoy the game like nothing is wrong.