Sports Business International
How innovations like 5G, object-based broadcasting and embedded product placement are transforming the presentation of live sport
http://www.sportbusiness.com/sportbusiness-international/media-8-ways-fans-will-consume-sport-future
Stats
on shirts
As
part of their official sponsorship of MLS and to promote the
Opta-driven stats service, Audi Performance index, the automotive
brand hosted a celebrity and press soccer match at
Chelsea Piers Golf Club, New York (August 02).
During
the game, Opta data was collected live by members of Perform’s New
York-based data collection team. Claimed as a first, the players’
performance score, calculated form the live Opta data, was displayed
electronically on the front of their shirts. Player performances were
also ranked live on large pitch-side screens, allowing spectators and
the players themselves to keep track of how their performances
compared to opponents and team members.
According
to Simon Denyer, CEO, Perform, “This is an innovative example of
live Opta data powering big-budget digital and experiential
sponsorship activations, in a way that effectively complements the
brand’s commitment to innovation and technology.”
TV
and OTT in synch
Viewers
following a live game on a tablet while they or friends also watch
the game on TV currently find themselves caught out when a goal is
scored. The way video is streamed over the internet mean delays of 30
seconds or several minutes behind the
TV broadcast.
Sweden's
Net Insight has developed software that synchronises OTT
frame-accuratley with broadcast signals. Trialled
at the 2015 Singapore Formula 1 Grand Prix, F1 media body the FOA
could introduce it across all races next season for rights holders
including Sky Sports.
“It
means that when F1 cars go into the first curve, viewers can see the
the view from the driver's helmet-cam on a companion app and
the main camera angle chosen by the show producer on TV
simultaneously,”
explains Per Lindgren, Net Insight's co-founder. “This makes for
more of a 'game like' experience, as if using an iPad as a virtual
steering wheel.”
The
breakthrough, not limited to F1, has some far-reaching implications.
The best example is the concept of 'swipe to TV' where users watch a
live stream on a tablet but then swipe the stream to view on a larger
TV screen. It eliminates the edge that Tweets from broadcast viewers
have over those watching OTT, for example, warning that a penalty was
missed before you'd seen it taken, and opens up multi-screen
opportunities for presenation where the TV and a laptop are treated
as one.
In-stadia
streaming solved
Fans
at stadia often find accessing the internet, let alone viewing video,
a frustrating experience because mobile networks are drained of
capacity in crowded areas. Sports venues can go some way to alleviate
this by working with telecoms providers and handset manufacturers to
stream video to apps using a souped-up version of the 4G network
called LTE.
Numerous
venues have trialled LTE, including Ajax
and
Wembley. Arguably the most advanced took place at Valencia's
Mestalla stadium for the club's final home game of the season (May
17, 2015) against Celta de Vigo.
“Broadcasting
five HD channels simultaneously with flawless playback set this apart
from previous trials,”
says Daniel Ayers, consultant for VCF digital agency Seven League.
“This is considered to be around two years away from mainstream
consumer devices.”
Content
included a four-hour live broadcast from multiple cameras around the
stadium; a separate Behind Scenes channel; an analysis channel with
tactical data overlays; a channel built around fan video uploads from
match day, and a social media channel curated through fan, player and
pundit tweets and Instagram posts. La Liga data was used to power a
stats channel, including player performance.
“When
you’re looking to attract fans internationally you’re competing
in a much wider field of clubs, and without the benefit of any
hereditary following,” says Ayers.
“Particularly
in Asian markets where football is as much a part of youth
entertainment culture as sports culture, aligning with tech
innovation to deliver a fan experience that brings the user as close
as possible to the match gives people reasons to choose Valencia CF.”
5G
makes everything possible
Even
with 4G LTE, the significant expected increase in mobile traffic will
inevitably cause network problems in the next few years. The answer
lies in the fifth generation of mobile connectivity, or 5G. It
promises massive increases in bandwidth for video delivered with
imperceptible latency.
“If
4G, 3G and 2G were, generally speaking, about speed improvements and
providing mobile data for the first time, 5G will expand what digital
communications can do in almost every direction, and beyond
recognition of what exists today,” says Nokia’s head of
innovation marketing, Volker Held.
Applications
include mobile broadcasting of 4K – four times HD resolution - and
near instantaneous downloads of large video files. 5G will also make
possible
virtual and
augmented reality, both of which need both high bandwidth and very
low latency to work.
Demonstrations
of 5G are planned at the 2018 Winter Olympics South Korea, FIFA World
Cup Russia, and
2018 Glasgow-Berlin European Athletics Championships. The
first 5G standards are due by 2019 with 2020 earmarked for commercial
deployments in Europe.
MLB
advances on-field data
While
on-field data is often outsourced to specialised agencies like Opta
Sports or IBM, MLB
Advanced Media, the digital wing of Major League Baseball, has been
able to lead because of its control of media production for all 30
teams.
Some
data comes from optical capture (cameras and graphic analysis
systems), some from radar capture, and some is extrapolated from the
data samples. It is extremely granular with pitching measurements for
perceived and actual ball velocity, and spin rate. Metrics tracking
runners between bases are honed to lead distance, acceleration,
maximum speed, and home-run trot. There's an even data illustrating
the speed of the base runner's first step and route efficiency.
Further
ahead, MLBAM will look at how beacons can detect fans at a ballpark
wearing a smartwatch. If a pitcher throws a fastball to end the
inning, the fan could potentially use the watch’s glance action to
instantly review the speed and path of the pitch.
Be
your own director
Object-based
broadcasting is a potentially seismic shift which destroys the
80-year old notion of sending just one set of pictures and sound to a
TV set.
This
new approach conceives of a program “like a multidimensional jigsaw
puzzle,” according to BBC R&D which first demonstrated it at
the 2014 Commonwealth Games. Every part of a scene – such as
foreground, commentary, or view of an athlete - is reconstructed at
the viewer's receiving device in a variety of ways permitting
entirely new forms of personalisation.
As
soon as next year we can expect object based audio to come to homes
as part of BT Sport and Sky Sports' Ultra HD services. Object
based-audio was trialled at the UEFA Euros 2016 and will, among other
attributes, allow a user to hear enhanced atmospheric audio, listen
to a specific race car driver communicating with the pit crew, or
choose between a home or away team commentary.
The
technique is predicated on a wholesale switch of the infrastructure
for producing and delivering video away to internet protocols. This
change is already well underway.
Incorporating
social in the game
Formula
E allows fans to influence the outcome of the race, making it unique
in major professional sports. FanBoost gives three drivers with the
most votes on social media prior to each race a 5-second power
injection per car, per driver, temporarily increasing their car’s
on-track performance from 150kw (202.5bhp) to 180kw (243bhp).
“Viewers
don’t just passively watch. They influence the outcome from second
screens,” says Ali Russell, CMO of Formula E Holdings.
Drivers
are encouraged to interact with fans too. One of the most active,
China Racing’s Nelson Piquet, Jr., won the inaugural championship.
The
novelty has found particular succes in China where “fans don’t
have any of the preconceptions that fans in Europe might,” says
Russell.
Formula
E latest social innovation is to integrate with the growing esports
community. At the season finale in London it debuted a online ePrix –
a esports competition which took place simultaneously with the real
race.
Embedded
product placement
UEFA
has experimented with embedding audio watermarks in the audio track
of its main coverage, enabling rights holders to experiment with
marketing strategies across second screens.
“For
example, a Lionel Messi goal would be watermarked linking the match
action to a series of relevant additional content available on the
viewer’s second screen,” says UEFA digital media solutions
manager Olivier Gaches. “Further information about the player or an
opportunity to view a selection of his previous Champions League
goals, or an Adidas e-commerce promotion could be a call to action.”
“The
need to convert users into customers is becoming an integral part of
the online video offer for sports rights holders,” says Carlo De
Marchis, deltatre which managed the proof of concept for UEFA.
Monetizing
Virtual Reality
Next
month, Sky will launch a Virtual Reality app which can be downloaded
to smartphones or VR devices like Oculus for viewers to watch select
recorded and live streamed content in 360-degrees including Formula 1
and boxing.
Fox
Sports in the US has already streamed NASCAR, horse-racing, NBA and
US Open golf in VR, the latter sponsored by car maker Lexus.
Pay-per-view 'virtual ticket' events will be trialled by Fox Sports
technology partner NextVR.
While
production issues and revenue models are being worked out, sports
producers view augmented reality – the overlay of graphics onto a
real world or live streamed view aka Pokemon Go – to be the next
big leap.
“AR
and VR is still in its infancy but AR has great potential to be able
to help viewers understand complex rules and action from UFC to rugby
by allowing explanatory commentary from pundits or animations to
pop-up over the live stream,” says De Marchis. Microsoft has
demonstrated how its hololens technology could give viewers a
simulated perspective of watching a game live from anywhere on the
pitch.
