This guide explains how to create a YouTube live streaming event in advance of a match. Setting up early allows you to promote the stream on your channel or other platforms before the match begins.
This guide is intended to be used alongside: Live streaming instructions for remote video.
Before you set up a YouTube event, note that:
- Public events show on both your YouTube channel and the Match Centre.
- Unlisted events show only on the Match Centre (once embedded).
- Private streams cannot be embedded or viewed.
Set up a YouTube event
To set up a YouTube video event ahead of time:
- Open a browser and navigate to YouTube (https://www.youtube.com).
- Sign into your YouTube account.
- Click your avatar in the top-right corner and select YouTube Studio.
- Click the Create button in the top-right corner and select Go live.
- Wait for the Live Control Room to load (watch for a red progress bar at the top).
- Make sure the Manage tab is selected in the left-hand menu.
- Click Schedule stream at the top right. The New stream dialogue opens.
- Complete the stream setup:
- Add a title and description.
- Choose the visibility (Public, Unlisted, or Private).
- Keep the category set to Sports.
- Set the date and time.
- Upload a custom thumbnail.
- Select No, it’s not made for kids.
- Under Age restriction (advanced), make sure No, don’t restrict my video to viewers over 18 only is selected.
- Click Create Stream.
- Wait for the red progress bar to complete. The event will appear under Upcoming.
- Click the event to review or edit details.
- Copy the Stream key from the event details screen.
- In NV Play Cricket, go to Tools > Configuration. The Configuration dialogue opens.
- Click the Live Streaming tab on the Configuration dialogue.
- Paste the YouTube stream key into the Stream Key field. The Stream Key is saved automatically and only needs to be entered once per stream key.
- Click OK.
Start streaming
When you are ready to begin streaming the match:
- In NV Play Cricket, click the Start Live Stream button on the Video Display panel.
- When prompted to add the stream to the Match Centre, click No (you'll add it manually later).
- Wait a few seconds for the stream preview to appear.
- Close the blue box in the top-right.
- Click Go live in YouTube Studio.
- Right-click the YouTube Preview window and select either Copy video URL or Copy embed code.
- In NV Play Cricket:
- Click the Settings cog in the Video Display panel.
- Select Add Live Stream to Match Centre. The Match Centre Live Stream dialogue opens.
- Paste the YouTube video URL or embed code into the top text field.
- Click Save.
- Wait around one minute. The stream will appear on the Match Centre (Live > View Website Scorecard) and YouTube. If it doesn’t appear, try a browser hard refresh (Ctrl + F5).
Set up a second stream key
To live stream two simultaneous matches (one per Match Centre) on the same YouTube channel:
- In YouTube Studio, go to the Stream tab.
- Under Stream settings, click the Default stream key (Variable) dropdown.
- Select Create new stream key.
- Enter a title and description, then click Create.
- Select the new stream key when creating your second event or assign it to an existing event. The stream key is saved for future use. To remove it, go to Manage stream keys in YouTube Studio and delete it from the list.
- In NV Play Cricket, paste the second stream key into Tools > Configuration > Live Streaming.