5G to transform sports experience for Indian fans in stadiums: Report

5G will transform the sports experience for Indian fans in stadiums and at home, according to research conducted by Ovum for Amdocs.

The report says 75 percent of Indian network operators taking part in the study plan to use virtual reality (VR) and all of them (100 percent) plan to use augmented reality (AR), supported by 5G, to offer richer viewing experiences to fans, both at the sports stadium and watching at home. Promising speeds up to tens of times faster and lower latency than 4G, 5G opens up the possibilities for new types of entertainment and in-stadium experiences. Audiences could, for example, watch instant replays and 360-degree streams or look up player stats via AR and VR technology, bringing them much closer to the action.

The report says the new technology will also transform the at-home viewing experience of sports events, with 75 percent of Indian operators planning to offer new multi-screen Pay-TV services. It will improve mobile TV and video quality and increase the range of mobile content available to audiences, across a range of consumer devices and services.

The research surveyed C-level executives from the world's 100 largest operators, including in India. Half (50 percent) of these, the research revealed, also intend to own a sports team in the 5G era as they look to expand their involvement in the sports ecosystem. This is likely to result in growing investments in 5G connectivity and services at stadiums and large venues.

All (100 percent) operators plan to support esports in the 5G era, either as technology partners to esports event organizers (100 percent), broadcasters of the action (50 percent) or with far bolder plans of being an OTT video provider.

Another 25 percent of operators are looking forward to esports team ownership. Esports is growing rapidly in popularity with viewing metrics, prize money and sponsorship all increasing substantially year-on-year and are being considered for entry into the Olympics as a new discipline for Paris 2024.

In terms of key opportunities associated with supporting sports and esports, 75 percent of the respondents see subscriber acquisition as the top opportunity followed by increased loyalty (50 percent) and then proving 5G use cases and benefits (75 percent).