How Live-streaming is transforming Cork Business League

A few years ago, Jamie O'Sullivan played against a team that live-streamed their match using an automatic camera from Veo. It was his first encounter with the technology, and he immediately recognized its potential for the Cork Business League. The league had long been searching for ways to make their games more accessible and engaging for both players and fans, and Veo seemed like the perfect solution.

With the ability to live-stream games and record highlights without requiring advanced equipment, the league could take a significant step into the digital era—something that quickly became central to their vision.

“At the start of this year, we were thinking about what we could do for the new season. We thought live-streaming games would be great because no league in our country is regularly live-streaming games. We live-stream our finals with a proper setup, including multiple cameras and commentary, but to just get smaller local games out to people, we thought live streaming with a video camera would be the perfect solution,” Jamie O'Sullivan says, when Veo meets him and Peter Travers, who is also involved with the league.

Both of them play in the league while also focusing on the marketing and social media aspects of the league.

The Cork Business League is one of the oldest and most prestigious amateur football leagues in Ireland, with a history spanning 72 years. Founded in 1952, the league aims to unite local businesses and their employees through football. Over time, the Cork Business League has evolved from being purely employee-based to now including teams sponsored by local businesses.

The league has always had a strong sense of community, but in recent years, they have been working deliberately to modernize and digitize its structure and communication. This includes the implementation of new technologies, allowing them to live-stream games and share highlights on social media.

“We are just an amateur league, basically your typical Sunday League. But still, we went live two weeks in a row now, and we had around seven hundred viewers the first night and five hundred the second night. For what people might consider low-quality football, it is drawing in viewers, and for some people, it is even better than watching professional football. It is really exciting,” Peter Travers says.

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600 Goals, but None on Video—Until Now

For six years, the league had hired an external company to film their finals. This was a larger production that couldn’t be replicated for every match, as they had wished. That’s why the league decided to acquire Veo cameras to record every game.

“I remember during the first match, my anxiety was through the roof trying to set the camera up. But by the second game, it was seamless, and the setup was perfect. The first game felt very long because we kept checking the app, the scores, and the YouTube stream throughout the ninety minutes. However, during the second game, time flew by because it was so easy to set up, and the whole process felt smooth. The production quality is excellent. You have the scores, the club logos, and branding on the stream. It’s much better than just using a phone to record,” Peter Travers says before Jamie O'Sullivan continues.

“Those live streams we do—well, other leagues look at them with envy. They wish they could do the same. For twenty years now, I have played football, and there has been no footage of me playing. None at all. It’s crazy. We want to give back to our players and say, ‘We are live-streaming every team this year.’ When you retire, you can look back on the footage, no matter how poorly or how well you played. You will have something to show for it.”

The ability to look back at footage is particularly important to the players in the league. One newcomer to the league has scored over 600 goals in his career over the last ten years, yet none of them had been recorded on video. Before this season, he joined a club in the league, and in his debut, he scored a hattrick. On the sidelines, a Veo camera captured the entire match.

“It’s quite special to have that captured on video. Unreal. He shared it and said that having this technology in the league is fantastic. He’s scored more than six hundred goals in amateur football, and only has three of them on video. It’s crazy. Hopefully, we’ll capture more of his goals this season,” Jamie O’Sullivan says, before Peter Travers explains the benefits of recording matches for the players.

“Even if you concede goals, it’s useful to see how you can improve. You can see the development of players and what they could have done differently. That’s one aspect. The other aspect is the online and social media content. People might think it’s just for views and clicks, but in reality, it helps develop players and clubs.”

The use of video on the sidelines has also helped expand the league’s reach, according to Jamie O’Sullivan.

“Traditionally, we didn’t have many spectators—maybe one hundred at a big game. But on our first night of live-streaming, we had seven hundred people tuning in, along with the one hundred spectators on the sidelines. It’s really bringing the games to the masses. If people have emigrated or can’t attend the game in person, it’s easy for them to tune into the live stream. In Ireland, we don’t have perfect weather, so on a rainy Sunday morning, people might not want to come to the match. Now, they can watch it on YouTube with the Veo camera. It makes the league more accessible to everyone.”

Additionally, the league has utilized the Live Overlays feature on the live stream, allowing local companies to have their logos displayed on the screen, gaining extra exposure.

“Last week, the overlay read, ‘Put your logo here,’ as a way to invite sponsorship. It’s definitely something we are exploring.”

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The Impact of Live-streaming 

With live-streaming comes the ability to tune in and watch the games from anywhere. The league experienced this when a group of players was on holiday in southern Spain but still tuned in to see how their team was doing.

“A group of players were on holiday and missed their game, so they convinced the pub to put the game on YouTube, and the whole bar watched it. It may have shown only one viewer on YouTube, but there were fifty people in the bar watching the game,” Jamie O’Sullivan says.

The Cork Business League also consists of several teams with players who have moved to Ireland from other countries or have family abroad. Here, live-streaming plays a significant role, allowing family and friends to tune in and watch the games.

“We have FC Croatia, which is made up of Croatian players. We have a Brazilian team, and now a Ukrainian team. When you look at the stats on YouTube, we have viewers in Brazil, Spain, Croatia, and other countries. It’s incredible. I used to play for a mostly Brazilian team, and we made it to the final. There were watch parties all over Brazil, with people having barbecues and watching the live stream.”

“It’s only possible because of Veo. Before this, the parents of players who had emigrated from Brazil or Croatia could never watch them play again. Now, they can. Last week, one of the players from my old team asked if I was recording the game. I was playing against my old team, and he messaged me, asking if he could have the footage because his grandparents in Portugal wanted to watch it. It’s amazing.”

Live-streaming has already transformed the Cork Business League, giving players and fans access to moments that were once impossible to capture. With the integration of new technology, the league has not only expanded its reach but also deepened the connection between players, their families, and fans around the world. Whether it's players on holiday tuning in from a bar in Spain or proud family members watching from another country, the impact of live-streaming is clear.

Jamie O'Sullivan explains, “What’s great about any game is that there are ninety minutes, and in those ninety minutes, there will always be a moment of magic. It doesn’t matter who is playing. It could be ten-year-olds, and there will still be a magical moment that we can capture on video. That’s the beauty of football.”

“The Veo camera enables us to capture those moments. I know we could use an iPhone and go live on Facebook or something, but the way the camera tracks the ball is perfect. It hasn’t missed a beat yet,” he ends.


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