We’re now used to watching live streams of sports like football and basketball, but what changes are being introduced that are changing the way we view other types of popular entertainment? A few recent examples let us see that live-streaming is now more widely used than ever before.
An Immersive View of Sports with 360-Degree Live Streaming and Drones
The world of badminton isn’t renowned for its focus on cutting-edge technology. Yet, the 15th National Games from the Shenzhen Sports Center in China promises to give us a new way of watching this sport. By using 36 cameras, the broadcasters give viewers complete control. When they swipe their mobile device, fans can spin around 360 degrees or zoom in for a closer view.
Golf is another traditional sport that has had a twist introduced thanks to the latest live-streaming tech. The smart tracer that was first shown to fans during the 2025 RBC Canadian Open shows viewers a colour-coded flight path that reveals the probability of the ball landing on the green or fairway. Augmented reality (AR) drone technology is used, while it also allows us to see AR graphics over the action.
Online Games with Live Human Presenters
The games in many a modern live casino online show how casino games have been updated. Mega Fire Blaze Roulette and Baccarat Showdown reveal different ways of adding a live element to classic games that have been around for centuries. The human dealer is live-streamed onto the player’s device, with some games offering the chance to switch between the various angles offered by different cameras.
With other technologies, such as augmented reality, also used in different games, we can see how the online casino scene is growing and evolving in new directions. Game shows like Money Time and Crazy Time include classic props such as money wheels, while Sweet Bonanza Candyland lets us see how a slot machine can be incorporated into a live game show to add more variety.
Easier for Creators to Live-Stream on YouTube
The market for live-streaming tools aimed at content creators has grown in recent years, with YouTube one of the platforms that is currently fighting for a bigger share of the market. This is reflected in the way that YouTube has now introduced a selection of tools that make it easier for content creators to carry out live streams.
These changes were revealed at the recent Made on YouTube 2025 event, where it was confirmed that almost a third of viewers who were logged in to the platform in the second quarter of 2025 had watched some form of live content. The changes that were presented at the show include a unified live chat with vertical and horizontal formats as well as a live practice mode that allows streamers to carry out a test run before launching their streams to the public.
The speed at which live-streaming technology is changing our popular entertainment options shows no sign of slowing down. By looking at the different ways that the technology is being added to classic games and sports, we can take some good guesses at how it will continue to provide innovation and first-class entertainment going forward.
