A global sports streaming platform, built and launched in three months

Summary

The World Games came to TulipTech with a bold ambition and an unforgiving clock. They needed a complete live sports streaming platform to carry a global, multi-sport spectacle to fans on every screen, and they needed it ready for a fixed event date that simply could not move. In just three months, our team designed and delivered an end-to-end OTT streaming platform made up of a responsive web application, native iOS and Android apps, and a purpose-built content management system, all crafted to feel unmistakably on-brand.

The platform brings live event streaming and video-on-demand (VOD) together in one seamless experience. A bespoke content management system gives administrators and sports federations self-service control over sports, athletes, podcasts, schedules and embeddable video links, while built-in sponsored advertising and on-screen overlays open up new monetisation opportunities. Just as importantly, the solution was engineered to stream reliably to a worldwide audience, including viewers in mainland China, through dedicated content delivery network (CDN) support.

The finished media streaming platform reached fans across the globe and, during the games, delivered tens of millions of minutes of live and on-demand viewing. It is proof that a complex, high-stakes streaming service can be launched at pace without compromising on quality, security or brand.

The challenge

Every high-profile live event carries pressure, but this project raised the stakes from the very first day. The team was asked to rebuild the streaming platform to match an existing experience, yet without access to the original UI design files, and while adhering strictly to The World Games brand guidelines. Every screen had to look and feel authentically on-brand, reconstructed largely from first principles.

The timeline was the sharpest constraint of all. A fully functional web application and both mobile apps had to be delivered in just three months, with a live sporting event as an immovable deadline. On top of that, the platform needed to stream into mainland China, which introduced significant technical complexity around CDNs and regional content delivery.

The most demanding twist came from the results system. The official data provider, Swiss Timing, supplied results data inconsistently across different events, and the documentation for the Results System Component (RSC) was unclear, offering little guidance for validating the logic. Then, during the live event itself, the team was told it had to switch to an event-level API. That change forced a complete rewrite of the results module while live streaming continued, uninterrupted, for a global audience watching in real time.

The technology choices added their own pressure. Building the mobile apps in React Native meant there was no ready-made video player to lean on, so the JWPlayer video player had to be configured manually from the ground up. With an aggressive schedule, stretched resources and almost no margin for error, even a small misstep could have jeopardised the entire launch.

Our approach

Faced with a fixed deadline and evolving requirements, TulipTech led with strategy rather than speed alone. As soon as requirements were gathered, the team triaged the build, identifying the most critical and technically challenging components early and tackling them first. Front-loading the hardest work built momentum and steadily removed the biggest threats to the timeline.

A central part of that thinking was prioritising dependencies that could otherwise become last-minute blockers. Features such as user profiles and privacy controls, which are essential for Apple App Store and Google Play approval, were identified and addressed early in the development cycle, even as requirements from the client continued to take shape.

To keep everyone aligned, the team ran an agile delivery process with weekly client meetings and a working demo at the end of every sprint. This continuous feedback loop kept all stakeholders informed, surfaced changes quickly and allowed rapid course correction, building trust and transparency throughout an intense schedule.

That discipline paid off when the live event forced the switch to an event-level API. The team rewrote the entire results module on the fly while protecting uninterrupted live streaming, and hand-built a custom JWPlayer implementation for React Native, tailored precisely to the platform. Careful planning, flexible architecture and calm execution under pressure turned potential crises into controlled, manageable tasks.

Key capabilities

The delivered solution is a complete, multi-platform streaming product. Its core capabilities include:

Live sports streaming: high-quality live streaming of a multi-sport programme to a global audience across web, iOS and Android.

Video-on-demand library: a searchable VOD catalogue so fans can replay events, sessions and highlights whenever they choose.

Multi-platform reach: a responsive web application alongside native iOS and Android apps built from a single, consistent codebase.

Custom content management system: self-service tools for administrators and sports federations to upload and edit sports and athlete information, manage podcasts, coordinate live event schedules and generate embeddable video links for distribution.

Live results and medal tables: an integrated results system that presents real-time standings and medal counts by sport and by country.

Advertising and monetisation: native support for sponsored advertisements and on-screen overlays to unlock commercial revenue.

Accounts and personalisation: user profiles, secure sign-in, search and notifications that keep fans close to the sports they love.

Technology, security and compliance

Cloud-native infrastructure with encrypted streams and optimised CDN delivery, spanning native and web clients and a bespoke admin CMS.

See it in action

Results

Against a fixed event date and a three-month build, TulipTech delivered the full live sports streaming platform on time and on brand across web, iOS and Android. The World Games could reach its global audience with both live events and video-on-demand from the moment the games began.

The numbers tell the story of a platform built to perform at scale. During the games, the service delivered more than 29.4 million unique minutes of live streaming and over 18.8 million unique minutes of video-on-demand, while attracting an average of more than 18,700 daily viewers at peak. The streaming infrastructure held firm under real-world load, including reliable delivery into mainland China.

Beyond the headline figures, the custom CMS handed sports federations self-service control over their own content, schedules and video embeds, reducing operational overhead and freeing the central team to focus on the event. The advertising and overlay capabilities opened fresh monetisation opportunities, and the ability to reach viewers in China expanded the platform's market reach significantly.

The outcome is a scalable, high-performance media streaming platform that has strengthened The World Games' digital presence and given the organisation a robust technical foundation for future events.