Swimming World Cup 2024: Unhappy American Fans Call Out Broadcasters for Poor Coverage of the Ongoing Event: “Can’t Even See the Times”

The 2024 Swimming World Cup is underway, and Team USA’s stars are already proving their mettle. 22-year-old Kate Douglass just repeated her Paris Olympic feat, winning gold in the 200-meter breaststroke. However, even more impressive was the fact that she returned to the pool on the same day and chilled the 100-meter Individual Medley title. Unfortunately, fans back at home had difficulty catching the action.

Despite having more than one option to watch the World Cup, fans complained about poor coverage on social media. “Swimming is so incredibly difficult to watch online.” Sockwell Swim Club Kyle Sockwell posted on X. “I’ve got about 147 different streaming platforms that I pay $10,893 per month for,” wrote Mr. Sockwell, in what could be a purely sarcastic take.

“More often than not, I end up having to pay for a 148th streaming service to watch whatever it is I’m trying to watch.” added the former NCAA swimmer. Sockwell’s comment could very well be a hilarious rebuttal of the multiple channels and stream platforms broadcasting the same event while still providing suboptimal coverage. In fact, that’s exactly what another X user commented.

“Love when we can’t even see the times everyone in prelims is going because they aren’t going to put it on there for the viewers.” the netizen commented on Sockwell’s post. The swimming fan didn’t name a specific platform. However, the comment seemed to indicate that the individual had surfed several Swimming World Cup livestreams before coming to a conclusion.

Thankfully, the Day 1 Heats at the 2024 Swimming World Cup didn’t throw many curveballs at swimming fans. Host nation China shined in several events, with the top 8 containing several Chinese names. However, there were no massive upsets in races involving stars such as Kate Douglass, Pan Zhanle, Leon Marchand, Kaylee McKeown, and others.

Douglass clinched the 100-meter IM title in 56.99 seconds, setting a new U.S. record. Meanwhile, France’s Leon Marchand won gold in the men’s 100-meter medley. However, all fans wanted was a high-quality live stream everyone could access with ease.

Fans hoped for a free alternative to stream the 2024 Swimming World Cup

After expressing disappointment with the quality of the coverage from several paid subscriptions, fans lamented the absence of a free live stream. “Is it an issue with the contracts that the schools have with networks? Could you set up an organic network of students or teams to just livestream each meet? There has to be a solution,” speculated one fan. However, many already had an answer.

“I wish we could get these TV deals to agree to just let the swim teams livestream on YouTube…” wrote a netizen. Instead of broadcasters having exclusivity deals, the fan suggested things would be better on YouTube. Several other fans agreed with the suggestion. Some even agreed to pay to access a YouTube live stream of the Swimming World Cup.

“Please, for the life of me, stream it ALL to YouTube! I will even pay a little if I need to,” pleaded one individual. However, these suggestions weren’t the result of wishful thinking. Livestreaming athletic events on YouTube is not a new concept. In fact, Alexis Ohanian’s Athlos NYC proved that social media platforms could reliably stream a live event in high definition.

Besides streaming on traditional channels such as ESPN+ and DAZN, Ohanian made the live stream available for free on YouTube and X. However, one fan explained another advantage of a free live stream on YouTube. “If it’s not on YouTube or CBC Gem (their online streaming platform), it’s near impossible to watch swimming online in Canada.” connected the netizen.

The comment highlighted that, unlike certain broadcasters such as NBC, which region-locks much of their content, you could access YouTube anywhere in the world. Unfortunately, it seems American fans will have to put up with the poor Swimming World Cup coverage, at least for this year.