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The sports broadcasting workflow has remained largely unchanged for the past 50 years. Broadcasters produce game feeds, and feeds are distributed throughout a venue, delivered to the press, produced for broadcast, and recorded for later team review. But the arrival of IP video has completely changed the game. Today’s ‘content now’ consumers and providers are turning to IP video solutions for new ways to engage, distribute, and analyse content without any game-to-gadget delay. By looking closer at this new model, we will discover how IP video can augment the fan experience, enhance press activities, and allow teams and leagues to improve the overall media experience and the teams’ performance. Peter Maag, chief marketing officer at Haivision, reports.
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Enhancing the fan experience
ports fans are demanding more immersive experiences and today’s stadiums are providing solutions to answer this challenge. Within private boxes,
installations are enabling fans to control their content through IP video systems fueled by every camera on the field. Video-on-demand assets are generated in real time within the IP video system to provide instant replay capabilities. The Pittsburgh Steelers of the NFL currently offer a powerful blend of live action and total viewer control within their 129 luxury boxes. Using a combination of HD cameras on the field, HD source encoders, a secure IP video administration system, and streaming player technology, patrons are treated to unique premium content on game days. This includes close-up camera views of the game that they could never get at home - live, in HD, with negligible latency. Fans also have access to replays and can review archived footage from previous games. A second way stadiums are using IP video to enhance the fan experience is through digital signage. Once content
Peter Maag, chief marketing officer at Haivision.
producers send their feeds through an IP video system, feeds can also be sent directly to signage systems throughout entire stadiums. However, success is dependent on low latency and security. Early installations taking advantage of IP video for in-stadium delivery such as the deployment at Yankee Stadium were unsuccessful because action was delayed in some parts by up to eight seconds, becoming more of a continuous replay rather than live action on the screen. But in a more recent application, the University of Oregon installed a signage system that delivers real-time, live HD video to hundreds of screens within their arena - keeping fans engaged regardless of their location at the venue. The system also enables live streaming of outside events before and after games, enticing fans to come to the arena earlier and attracting an audience that would normally watch games elsewhere. In order to ensure secure delivery and live-feed monitoring, all players are controlled from a central location. In premier- league sports, management must ensure that feeds cannot be recorded
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by people on the network, since these assets are critical to their success. In addition to providing experience- enhancing tools, ensuring low latency, and delivering content securely, the future of the live sporting experience will be contingent on one important feature: streaming to handheld devices. Organisations such as Formula One have already experimented with the idea of delivering live content to fans via custom mobile devices since racetracks make it impossible for spectators to view every angle of the action. But problems with latency rendered the initiative suboptimal in addition to the cost of custom viewing devices and infrastructure. Today, most mobile devices are capable of handling video and sporting leagues are starting to experiment with technologies that can get low-latency video transmission right to everyday mobile devices. This will be revolutionary when delivered within stadiums. To date, nobody has successfully implemented this type of solution, but companies such as Haivision are investing in technology that will soon make this vision a reality.
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