Sports Video Essentials – Level 1: Easy Setup for Any Team! 🏆🎥 – Chapter 7

OBS is free software often used for recording and live streaming video.

When it comes to sports video, your equipment has to be ready for action and ideally easy enough for the people you have available to use. From capturing fast-paced plays on the field to delivering crystal-clear commentary, the right tools determine the quality of your stream.

Types of Sports Video Systems

This chapter will focus on easy to use technology that even kids can set up and use. The next chapter will focus on mobile systems, which I call “Tripod Warriors” which include larger tripods that are often used to capture the “birds eye view” so popular in sports video. After testing many different sports video systems, I have concluded that it’s often best to simplify your technology setup so that “a kid could operate it.” This is ideal, because you may often find yourself relying on untrained volunteers to operate your system. The best part about video production equipment is its versatility; the same tools used for video recording can be used for live streaming.

Four levels of live streaming gear

When it comes to live streaming sports, your setup can range from basic to advanced, depending on your needs. Here’s a breakdown of the four main levels of equipment, starting from the most accessible and working up to pro-level setups.

Level 1: Mobile streaming, recording, scorekeeping and automated statistics. Battery-powered, touchscreen video production switchers.
Level 2: Camera systems for sports analytics and sideline replay.
Level 3: Multi-camera sports video production systems. Camera operators, instant replay and iso-recordings for each camera.
Level 4: Broadcast quality television production with everything you would expect in professional TV.

Gamechanger smartphone sports streaming app.

Level 1: Streaming with a Smartphone or Tablet

At the most basic level, live streaming can be done using just your smartphone or tablet. With apps like GameChanger and Padcaster, it’s amazing what you can accomplish. These apps have improved so much that you can now use your phone’s camera (which keeps getting better) or even add extra cameras over your network using protocols like RTSP or NDI.

How it looks:

Single camera smartphone video can look good, especially if you have graphics. This is why apps like GameChanger are so popular. Smartphones have high definition video cameras and there are plenty of mounting options to attach a phone to a fence or a tripod system. The drawback is that your viewpoint is usually limited. The further your camera is from the action the harder it is for viewers to see what’s going on. Smartphones often capture a nice wide angle, but can’t provide video switching or close ups.

Professional sports broadcasts have conditioned viewers to expect close ups and instant replays that are available in level 2, 3 and 4 systems.

Level 1 live streaming system example

When live streaming with a wireless device you generally have three connectivity options: WiFi, Cellular and Ethernet. Bonding is the use of multiple bandwidth sources used together to create a single more reliable connection.

The first and most common internet connection for streaming with a mobile device is WiFi. WiFi, short for Wireless Fidelity and there have been several versions of WiFi that continue to become faster and more reliable. The second option for wireless streaming is the use of cellular data, which can be less reliable but is often more widely available. 3G networks were the first to offer broadband-like speeds for mobile devices. While it can support basic streaming, it’s generally too slow for high-quality live video. 4G networks offer much faster data speeds, making them suitable for HD video streaming in many areas. 4G LTE (Long-Term Evolution) is particularly effective for mobile broadcasting. The latest cellular technology, 5G offers extremely high speeds and low latency. It’s capable of supporting multiple 4K streams simultaneously, making it ideal for high-quality sports broadcasts from remote locations.

Pro Tip: Test your internet speeds before attempting to live stream. If your internet connection isn’t great, consider recording the game and uploading it later. This way you can record a much higher quality video.

Ethernet to USB-C adapter from PoE Texas.

The third and most reliable option is to make use of hardwired ethernet connections. There are a variety of adapters that will allow smartphone devices to connect to your network switch or router through an Ethernet cable providing a reliable and robust internet connection. PoE Texas makes a USB-C to ethernet adapter I have tested that provides data and power over ethernet which is useful for streaming video during long events.

Speedify offers a bandwidth testing tool which provides suggestions on your live stream settings based on your available connectivity.

The most reliable option is the use of a bandwidth bonding service such as Speedify. A bandwidth bonding service is a technology which combines multiple internet connections into a single, more robust and reliable connection. This is particularly useful for live streaming, especially in situations where a single internet connection might be unreliable or insufficient. While Speedify does cost $14.99/month, it does offer a very useful tool called Pair and Share, which allows you to connect multiple phones together to leverage the shared connectivity. Pair and Share requires that each phone has the Speedify app and is connected to the same WiFi system. This is perfect for streaming a game from a field with no internet access, as long as there is WiFi. If there is no WiFi available you can use a mobile hotspot from one of the mobile phones you are using.

The GameChanger App for live streaming, brings together team rosters, scorekeeping, live video streaming, highlight reels and athlete profiles.

GameChanger has become one of the most popular sports management apps available today. It offers integrated score-keeping and team management features that are controllable from any iOS or Android smartphone. The app continues to get better over time, offering scoreboards, custom athlete profiles and stats that you can build over the season. What makes GameChanger so convenient is that most of the core features are free for coaches to use. Once the coaches have the team roster loaded up and the game schedule in place, all the parents and players can easily login and participate. For example, one parent can help volunteer as a score keeper, another can help live stream the game.

Scorekeeping in GameChanger is easy and it allows for advanced statistics to be generated automatically.

While much of GameChanger is free to use it is a freemium app. This means that you can use the essential features for free but you’ll have to pay $14.99/month for the premium features such as automated video highlight reels and player stats throughout the season. The automated video clipping leverages the scoring data you entered to know exactly where the highlights of the game are. This feature is only available after you have live streamed the game, so the system can match up the scores against the live video. This allows you to quickly post the highlights from the game for everyone to see. Live streaming on the app is a free feature and you can choose

GameChanger also allows you to grow your setup over time and add additional cameras such as those from Mevo, GoPro and PTZOptics. To live stream you can click the “Record Video” button and follow the instructions to record with your phone or an external camera that supports RTMP streaming. RTMP streaming is a standard streaming option from cameras such as the Mevo and Go Pro. This level is great for solo streamers or fans looking to produce a one-time event.

Another system I tested for “Level 1” is called the YoloBox.

Another system I tested for “Level 1” is called the YoloBox. This small touch screen video switcher is available in several options starting at less than $1,000 USD. I consider this a “Level 1” system because it’s a touch screen interface that you can put any novice in front of and they can operate the system. In the picture above, you can see the YoloBox Ultra with four HDMI video sources. In future productions, I started to use NDI video sources which connect over a single ethernet cable. This further simplifies the system for novices because you don’t need to run additional HDMI cables for each camera.

The YoloBox scoreboard system is easy to customize and operate with the touch screen interface.

The YoloBox combines video recording, live streaming and instant replay into one simple to use touch screen system. The device has a built-in battery which I noticed can last for most sports events. The built-in scoreboard is a key feature sports broadcasters enjoy, because it’s easy to customize the styling and operate the score live with a few taps on the screen.

Simple 3 camera YoloBox and PTZ camera system.

The diagram above shows a simple power over ethernet (PoE) network switch being used to connect together a YoloBox, three PTZ cameras and a PTZ joystick controller. This is probably one of the easiest ways to set up multiple cameras for sports video and manage it all from a central location. This system can be operated by a single experienced person or more realistically managed by two dedicated people.

A young volunteer operates a PTZOptics SuperJoy Controller, while another volunteer operates the YoloBox.

From a camera placement perspective, I like to have one “tactical” camera in the center and one camera behind each goal on tall tripods. One person can be focused on following the play left and right while the other person can be focused on video switching and triggering instant replays. You can see that one LCD monitor is provided for each person to get a nice view of the action from the remote broadcasting location.

The YoloBox instant replay is very easy to use and really adds to the production quality. All you need to do is enable instant replay, choose the playback length and the speed. Once it’s enabled you can simply click the “Replay” button in the top right corner and the replays will start to play. I tested this for Hockey and ended up choosing a five second replay that plays back at 50% speed. When choosing instant replay settings, you have to determine how quickly the game will start after a goal is scored. If you playback five seconds at 50% speed, it will take 10 seconds to play out. If you set up your YoloBox to play back two cameras it will then take 20 seconds total. In most sports, the teams are ready to start again in 20-30 seconds, so you have to consider this during instant replay playbacks. If you are using the YoloBox and the game resumes during the instant replay playback, you can always click a live video source to jump back to a live camera.

Pro Tip: Included in our Sports Graphics pack, are “instant replay” intro and outro video clips. You can set these up to play before and after your instant replays to give your production a more professional look.

Another reason the YoloBox is a “Level 1” video system is that it uses a simple SD card to record the video. This is ideal for transferring video to a computer for posting online or editing a highlight reel. I put the YoloBox in front of an 11-year-old volunteer, during a fast-paced hockey match and he was able to keep up with the video switching. With many other computer based solutions, including Open Broadcaster Software (OBS), more training is often necessary.

OBS is free software often used for recording and live streaming video.

Still, OBS is probably the most popular free video switching software in the world. While OBS isn’t as easy to use as the YoloBox, it’s free and you can install it on any Windows or Mac computer. You can make OBS easier to use by purchasing a StreamDeck which is a small USB connected keypad that you can use to program shortcuts for simple actions such as adding to the scoreboard or switching cameras.

OBS is free open source software, so to add some of the functionality you might need for sports, you can install plug-ins and integrate hardware to expand what you can do. For example, to add instant replay, you can purchase a Roland P-20HD with a capture card and connect it to your computer as an input into OBS. You can also integrate PTZ cameras into OBS and control them to follow the action in sports. This can be done with a USB connection or via NDI, just like the YoloBox.

In the video tutorial above, you can learn how to integrate sports graphics, PTZ camera controls and instant replay into OBS. OBS is a very flexible software and therefore, it can be used as a “Level 1” solution allowing you to take an existing computer and record and/or live stream sports. Because it’s so flexible, it can also become more complicated and accommodate new workflows as you grow. If you decide to use OBS for your sports productions, I highly recommend reading another book I have published called The OBS SuperUser Guidebook.

In the next chapter, you’ll learn about what I call the “Tripod Warrior” system which expands upon these simple level 1 systems and incorporates essential gear such as large tripods and the ability to control cameras remotely. While these systems do require more preparation, the video quality that you’ll come away with will be superior in many ways.

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