Question for Sports Streamers

[BlitzSports]

Hey Team,

I've been streaming my kids sports (Hockey & Ringette) for a couple of years now, here's one of my latest hockey streams: https://youtube.com/live/CDoyIJu_mRw

Here's what I've been using for the production:
3 phones (2 fixed, one tripod mounted cameras) on Vdo.ninja piped into OBS
I built the scorebug and graphics to have a similar look and feel to Canada's Sportsnet productions
I've been using Scoreboard app to drive the scorebug data.
Needless to say, running the clock, tracking shots on goal, switching cameras it's ALOT of work that goes into a production.

When I sit back and think of what an ideal production would look like it would be something like this:
- Cameras would auto switch depending on where the action is.
- Scorebug would be 100% hands off... Someone is running the scoreboard within the venue, why do I need to do that as well?
- Graphics would auto trigger. ie.) Goal is scored, scorebug updates and then flashes the Goal graphic.

Maybe I'll stop there, does this resonate with any of you out there?

Looking forward to your thoughts,

Dallas

 

[OkayMustangsSports]

Dallas,

As someone that is streaming their kids sports, I know where you are coming from on keeping up with the action. It is overwhelming at times. (This YouTube was started so my wife could see our daughter's games while at work. Originally it just was private on Facebook but between the copyright music and poor video quality I switched. Now I'm streaming all the Sports from our local High School.)

1. Your score overlay looks very professional and is something like what I originally wanted to use. I've yet to find anything worthwhile for basketball or volleyball. It doesn't help that I know almost nothing about programming.
2. Do you experience any lag from the fixed cameras? I'm assuming it's a wireless/WIFI connection. I've been looking for options to cover both ends of the basketball court, both sides of the net for volleyball, and different bases for baseball and softball.
3. I like the idea of automating the camera scene selection and Goal Graphic. Unfortunately, I have no idea how to do that myself. Though I have considered investing in the Obsbot Tail 2 PTZR camera as it has AI tracking supposedly to track multiple people or individuals. It should be able to track the teams across the court or in your case the ice.

I'm still figuring out the best ways that work for me. This past December is when I started using OBS. Before that I was using an app called SportCam. It was an all-in-one Scoreboard Overlay and streaming app. For fast action games like basketball, I had a helper running the score remotely. One of SportCam's updates made it drop so many video frames that it was unusable, right in the middle of basketball season. That led to a frantic search for a replacement and a self-taught crash course on how to run a livestream with OBS. Unfortunately, the laptop I had at the time was terrible and would lag and crash. It had an intel i5 with 8 GB ram and intigrated graphics. It constantly used 50% or more CPU for OBS

Current Production Equipment and Software/Plugins 2025 Spring Softball and Baseball:
-OBS Studio
-Asus Gaming Laptop - AMD Ryzen 9, AMD Radeon Graphics, 64 GB Ram (Max observed CPU usage 1%)
-Samsung Galaxy S8+ Tablet - Main Camera on Tripod with DroidCam app to OBS via USB (I just figured out how to access the 4k option and have yet to use it.)
-Samsung Fold3 Phone - Secondary Camera with Clamp on grip for Basketball Scoreboard with DroidCam app to OBS via USB
-Samsung Tab A Tablet - Baseball/Softball Scoreboard with Baseball Score app and Tenorshare Screen Mirror ap to OBS via USB
-Shotgun Mic to OBS via USB
-OBS Plugin: Lower Thirds with Dockable Control Panel - I edited the HTML file so that there are 45 slots per dock Instead of 10, and to start slot count at 00 (double Zero) thru 44 for fast selection of Jersey Numbers. Image Attached
-For the Baseball/Softball Scoreboard I created a scene with multiple cropped sources of the source window for the Tab A.
-Tenorshare Screen Mirror allows control of the Tab A on the Laptop screen easier than reaching to change the score.
-Move Transition for different Camera Zoom from a single source.

Even with Baseball and Softball being slower action than Basketball I sill found myself falling behind as a one man operation.

Streams from my various setups tis past year:

Basketball Game via SportCam https://www.youtube.com/live/nqWWA0OwSWU

Basketball Game via OBS https://www.youtube.com/live/-suVEdaMaOU

Baseball Game Via OBS https://www.youtube.com/live/Qe7OJiczJEE


Hopefully you find a solution for your ideal production,

Jason