Does your organization produce an event of some kind that draws an audience? If there was a way to increase your audience size, generate more visibility for your brand, and boost your revenue from that event, would you be interested in trying it? There is a way to do all those things, and lots of organizations like yours are already doing it: pay-per-view (PPV) live streaming.
Maybe you’ve never live streamed before, or perhaps you’ve been live streaming your events for free and want to optimize the value of your content. Whatever your situation, it’s smart to leverage the value of that content through monetization. The money your event will earn through live streaming is usually considered the primary benefit, but there are other benefits to pay-per-view live streaming beyond just cash.
Live streaming can be used effectively in a number of ways, but not all live-streamed content is appropriate for pay-per-view. (Here are some excellent live stream ideas for growing your brand that aren’t ideal for PPV.) So how do you know if you have a PPV-worthy event?
Events that DO work for PPV live streaming are:
- One-time events, like a game or competition.
- Unique, proprietary content not available elsewhere. In other words, if you’re not there in person, you’ll never get to see it.
- Best enjoyed live. (Who wants to watch a hockey game after they’ve seen the final score?)
Events that DON’T work for PPV live streaming are:
- Impromptu events (like company announcements or spontaneous interviews with conference attendees).
- Short in duration. An event that only lasts 20-30 minutes is too short for PPV.
- Just as easily viewed after the fact (like company meetings or press conferences).
Take a look below at some event types that work perfectly for PPV.
Event Types Perfect For Pay-Per-View Live Streaming
Pageants
Pageants check off all the boxes for the best type of PPV events. Many state organizations connected with Miss USA and Miss America already use pay-per-view live streaming to broadcast their competitive events every year, but there are still many pageant organizations that are missing out on this opportunity.
Some pageant organizations work with production companies, like JC Productions, to produce their events and live stream them. Production companies are an especially good option if you’re looking to produce a high-quality stream but have little experience live streaming. In that case, any revenue generated is distributed between the production company and the pageant organization. Or, if you’re producing the live stream yourself, you should be able to use your live streaming platform provider (who will enable your live stream to be shared online) as a resource.
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Racing
Fans love to watch high-action events in real time, which makes racing a perfect fit for pay-per-view streaming. Any type of racing would work—car racing, horse racing, sailboat racing, bike/dirt bike racing… you get the idea. No matter what type it is, it’s all unique, proprietary content that is best watched live and can’t be seen anywhere outside the actual venue. By offering fans who can’t attend in person the opportunity to view the race via live stream (like Empire Super Sprints’ ViewXStream below) and then charging them for access, you’re extending your audience far beyond the spatial limitations of your venue.
All you need is a single camera with a good view of the track to produce something fans will enjoy. And you can always advance your production technique over time—like adding more cameras or graphics—with the help of the revenue generated by PPV.
Sporting Events
From youth leagues to college athletics, all kinds of sporting events draw paying audiences via live stream.
Sports organizations stream for different reasons—some are simply looking to earn more revenue while others use the funds to extend and improve their live streaming program. For example, organizers of the youth football tournament shown below, produced by Varsity Media, streamed games spanning five playing fields over the course of a week, generating income beyond what they would have received without PPV live streaming. Whatever your goal, PPV streaming represents a great opportunity to capitalize on your valuable content.
Your event might fall outside one of these three categories (a tractor pulling competition streamed by the National Tractor Pulling Association being another successful example) but that doesn’t mean it won’t work for pay-per-view live streaming! Evaluate your content based on the information here, then decide if pay-per-view live streaming is the right move for you.
Pay-per-view isn’t the only way to monetize your live streaming content. Here’s everything you need to know about your options for generating revenue.
