The rapid circulation of smartphone usage in Asia, parallel to the rollout of 5G networks, has resulted in a massive upsurge of sport consumption via the use of mobile phones.
In this age of continual digital advancement, it has been uncovered that 19% of fans globally use mobile applications to watch sport across the world.
The news comes from a recently published report from research and data analytics firm YouGov who discovered that consumers in Asia are increasingly utilising mobile apps in order to follow and watch sport.
Vietnamese consumption of mobile sports has proven especially popular, with nearly half (48%) of the country’s sporting legion watching their sports on mobile devices, with the only minor variation occurring among age groups.
It was found also that India has a significant share of fans (44%) who watch sport via the use of mobile apps. The report cited India’s low data rates and the large number of domestic service providers as the major contributing factors in the increase of mobile streaming use in the country.
Viewership in Thailand (33%), South Korea (28%) and the Philippines (28%) was also higher than the global average of 19% of sports fans who conduct their viewing via mobile apps.
Taiwan and Japan are the notable Asian outliers in the report, as both countries recorded some of the lowest rates globally at 7% and 6% respectively.
Comparatively, the research revealed that mobile sports consumption in the United States and in Europe is low. The United Kingdom reported figures of just 12% of consumers using mobile apps to watch sport, whilst Spain had the highest rate of usage in Europe with 18% and the United States were reported to have had just 13%.
Undoubtedly, the next generation of mobile devices will see further migration towards mobile sports consumption (particularly with high-speed, low latency 5G made available across the world) as the value-for-money will be an enticing proposition for sports fans, with access to replays, custom camera angles and virtual reality just some of the opportunities presented going forward.
The new era of sports consumption will be significant for the sporting landscape, whilst providing telecom companies a lucrative chance to recoup from a heavy investment in the next-gen network.