The digital age has opened doors that seemed locked to sport just a few years ago.

When the BBC announced that they would be adding these 1000 additional hours of content back in November of 2017, the network announced that Women’s Super League Football, British Basketball League, wheelchair rugby and the early rounds of the FA Cup would all be available to fans via BBC Sport Online and the iPlayer.

In their continuing efforts to reach those 1000 hours, the BBC announced on Tuesday (March 21st) that it would be adding more major Paralympic and Olympic events through its streaming service.

As more networks continue to push their content through OTT, it shouldn’t really come as a massive surprise that the BBC decided to make the use of its online resources to stream more sport. However, that doesn’t mean that we as fans shouldn’t be grateful for the added content. The BBC could easily stay away from adding this service because they do still see huge success through traditional television broadcasts. This is not to say that the BBC is not a progressive organisation in terms of adapting to the changing landscape of sport broadcasting, but it has a certain stability because of its massive successes in broadcasting events like the World Cup Final. In their simulcast with ITV for the 2014 final, the BBC peaked at 16.7 million viewers while the “little brother” peaked at 3.9 million viewers – figures which you feel won’t be too much different this summer in Russia.

Fans of sport can rejoice in the fact that they are now capable of watching this content online, but there is another side to this story that needs to be looked at. A majority of these sports are not necessarily the most popular or well-known events across the UK, and as a result the athletes do not earn the same amount of attention that Paul Pogba or Harry Kane would receive.

However, with the help of the BBC, the overall popularity of athletes like Jordan Williams of the Surrey Scorchers in the BBL or Paralympic skier Kelly Gallagher could be set to increase, even slightly. The major reason as to why these athletes are not widely known stems from the fact that the only way you used to be able to watch them in action was if you attended that event. It’s very easy to forget that all of these people are also professional athletes. Just like Paul Pogba or Harry Kane, they are masters of their craft and are capable of some of the most extraordinary things that human beings can perform. Live streaming – especially on such a well-followed platform like the BBC website and promotion on its associated social media might –  makes it much easier to see that.

Of course, the addition of the Paralympics/Olympics is just another add-on to the 1000 hours of coverage that the BBC will be broadcasting online. It’s very easy to tell that the broadcaster is actively trying to appeal all fans of sport in the UK by creating this service. The major question that comes now is what will the BBC add next?

While that’s unclear, we do know that the long-time staple of British television is continuing to demonstrate they are at the forefront of the sport broadcasting industry.