Spark Sport slip-ups a cautionary tale

Scenes like these are all too familiar for those of us who have tangled with online sports providers. Photo / File

I'm usually not one for fanning the panic flames before an event or game has come to pass.

Usually it's safer just to hold your tongue and avoid making final, apocalypse-esque predictions in the lead-up, simply because there are people out there who have more understanding of the technical know-how behind something like Spark Sport.

But in this case, it was just too hard to resist and if I say it now, I can rest easy knowing I did my service to the sporting lovers of this community.

Anyone who thinks Spark Sport is going to go off without a hitch, giving New Zealand flawless coverage of the Rugby World Cup this year, needs to get their wires checked.

I think most people with common sense will see it the right way but I must admit, on the rare occasion I have been lulled into believing this platform change from traditional television broadcasters to an online service will be a benefit to how we view sport.

On some level, I still believe that to be true with the current popularity influx for online providers. Speaking on behalf of millennials, it seems a lot smarter these days to invest in a decent desktop or laptop rather than forking over good coin for a television set that can't easily be carried to the kitchen or on your lap in bed.

But it's the raft of potential hazards Spark must navigate which give me great cause for concern and tells me that any rational person should be expecting substantial difficulties with service quality during game time.

And this goes beyond the usual argument of excess demand overloading and crashing the system. It's an easy case to make for any sports jockey with a keyboard but a hard one to confirm 100 per cent.

The fact of the matter is that no one knows the capability of Spark Sport in terms of demand until we get to about three minutes from kick off. Only then will we know the true feasibility of the high-definition dream being sold to us.

Sure, we can give examples of other sites which have crashed thanks to the sheer weight of people trying to log on at the same time. Lord knows I have too many stories of torn-out hair and thrown remotes off the back of bad encounters with SkyGo, but we cannot attribute the same level of incompetence to Spark until it gets a good run.

What we can say is that slip-ups are a part of human nature, therefore a part of Spark Sport. Speaking with yesterday, Spark Sport head Jeff Latch said "human error" was to blame for hockey fans missing out on the first quarter of the Anzac Day clash between the Black Sticks Women and Australia.

Evidently, someone just forgot to turn the stream on, a classic moment of panic and horror I know most people would empathise with.

Latch said this error would be a thing of the past when the livestreams went to an automatic process, but I find the complete removal of the human touch in this operation a little hard to buy at the moment.

He went on to wax lyrically of the successes of his new system which had only recorded three issues during almost 150 different sporting events. But just as we can't peg Spark Sport with the reputation of past online providers covering big events, I don't think we can use this 148-3 score as complete proof ahead of the Rugby World Cup.

The fact that not all homes will be able to view the competition is an immediate failure in my book, but the issue seems an accepted one so best not to bleat on about it. I hope I don't have write any more about this topic because I think it detracts from the sport itself, which should never be the goal of any sporting broadcaster.

Nevertheless, there may be other instances of worry in Spark Sport's lead-up to New Zealand's most cherished sporting event, but it won't be until we hear the whistle or see the freeze on the screen until we will know for sure, the success of its coverage.