• by Wayne Friedman , November 20, 2017

Live streaming of big sporting events is plagued with a number of problems as it looks to grab share from traditional TV platforms, according to a new study.

Some 63% of sports watchers are reluctant to sign up or re-subscribe to sports live-streaming platforms in 2018 because of major problems such as buffering and poor quality, according to a study from live-streaming platform Phenix, conducted by YouGov.

Forty-one percent worry about missing a key play in the game due to latency issues, while 34% of sports fans would think about cancelling services because of specific issues.

Nearly three-quarters of consumers expect bad service during live-streamed games. Thirty-two percent expect poor quality, 30% expect loss of service, 42% expect delays, and 64% expect buffering -- the freezing of video during live transmissions.

In addition to solving these issues, many expect a higher level of information and special functions from live-streamed sports --- 36% want player stats and information; 36% want to be able to stream more than one game on different devices; and 30% want the ability to watch in “virtual reality” — views of the game from different angles.

An online YouGov study of 2,309 adults was produced from October 12-16, with data weighted and representative of all U.S. adults, age 18 and older.