SEA Games in Singapore to be streamed live on mobile apps, YouTube

SINGAPORE — The Southeast Asian (SEA) Games to be held in June in high-tech Singapore will be streamed live on dedicated mobile apps and YouTube, organizers said Monday.

More than 600 hours of the 39-sport competition from June 5 to 16 will be streamed live on the “SEA Games TV” apps for Android and iOS mobile devices, the Singapore SEA Games Organizing Committee said in a statement.

Sixteen sports will also be streamed live on popular video sharing and streaming site YouTube, along with the opening and closing ceremonies, the statement said.

“The digital platforms allow the organizers to go beyond venue capacity and geographical boundaries and to reach out to the entire region,” it said.

Lim Teck Yin, chairman of the organizing committee, said the intent of the digital platforms was to keep regional sports fans “updated and excited about the games, no matter where they live”.

Organizers last week said costs for the Games will come in at Sg$324.5 million (US$245.3 million).

The biennial SEA Games is a smorgasbord of different sports ranging from the popular football, swimming and athletics as well as more exotic sports followed passionately in Southeast Asia.

Among them is the Chinese martial art wushu, and sepak takraw, a cross between volleyball and football where players use their feet, legs and head to lob a rattan ball into the opposing court.

Singapore last hosted the Games in 1993. The centerpiece of this year’s event will be the city-state’s state-of-the-art 55,000-seater National Stadium which opened its doors last June.

The Games involve all 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations — Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam — plus non-Asean state East Timor which first participated in the Games in 2003.