odds and betting . This will provide fans with the option to ‘ play along ’ with live sports and wager on a play-by-play basis ,” he advises . 5G . With 5G becoming more widespread , what role will it play in enhancing the fan experience , both at events and remotely ?
“ Connectivity is one of the few remaining challenges for broadcast content delivery and the majority of enhanced features are still limited to at home use ,” notes Gaydon . “ Consumers are motivated to engage with new technologies and 5G will open the door to a host of on-the-go possibilities such as holographic video and advanced AR and VR capabilities . 5G is also likely to accelerate the popularity of e-sports where latency can mean the difference between success and failure for participants ,” he suggests .
“ 5G technology will be extremely beneficial in simplifying the content production process and will reduce the costs of operations with remote production workflows ,” predicts Poullaouec . “ 5G technology will also address a variety of scenarios including newsgathering and second tier sports production as well as larger tier one sports production events where there are multiple wireless cameras and a need for premium video production .”
“ I split 5G into two parts ,” says Hindhaugh . “ The first is having 5G-enabled stadiums . You untether your cameras , which means creatively , you can move around , using the same cameras to do a lot more . I think that is really exciting . The second perspective is from the Match Day experience and how we can engage better with fans . The strange dichotomy at the moment is we talk to all of our audience , everywhere , apart from those that are in the stadium , watching the game . With 5G enhancing that connectivity , we can start having conversations with , or bringing in experiences from , those fans that are in the stadia to inform our editorial , but also to give this to viewers that are not in the stadium some of the experience of what it ’ s like to be there , bringing them into that ecosystem . The final thing is around how we seamlessly look at how we as BT Sport work with the stadia to navigate people to their seats ; to make a BT Sport customer almost like a VIP when they are going into the stadium to watch the game . It ’ s very
“ Sports needed to create unique viewing experiences and keep fans engaged .” - Mike Burk , LTN Global
close . We ’ ve done a lot around 5G . Network slicing is critical for the first part around that production capability . I think you ’ ll see a big evolution because of the benefits it brings from a customer engagement perspective ,” he suggests . CONNECTIVITY . “ As 5G rolls out globally , it will offer increased connectivity and higher bandwidth capabilities ,” advises Clarke . “ Consumers can access more content and fans can experience more immersive interactions around events with social media activations and new features . 5G will also enable sports filmed in remote locations to deliver higher quality feeds to viewers to encourage engagement and expand reach .”
“ 5G has the potential to give camera crews and production teams a level of flexibility and scale far beyond the scope of traditional event production ,” says Capon . “ With the bandwidth and network reliability to send high-fidelity , low latency video feeds over the air , from any location , anyone will be able to produce broadcast-quality video from anywhere . 5G also offers new opportunities for fans at events and at home , including Augmented Reality , access to new live streams and replays in real time and the ability to mix data with video - which is hugely relevant for gaming and fantasy in sports . The developments in 5G will allow broadcasters and publishers to experiment and drill down into what fans really want to see , and give them the flexibility to cover events which may not have been economical or practical in the past ,” he adds .
“ 5G has two main applications : providing a higher bandwidth and enabling increased scalability ,” advises Fautier . “ Thanks to 5G , we can now leverage multiple HD streams to support multiview or share the viewing experience using Watch Together at home . In the stadium , 5G enables us to offer streaming capabilities to thousands of users , which was not possible with 4G .” LATENCIES . “ 5G should cut latencies down to milliseconds ,” suggests OBS ’ s Kunhya . “ The low latencies and high onthe-go bandwidth give the industry a great opportunity to develop event interactivity . Fresh opportunities will be delivered as 5G is going to allow remote production over mobile networks without sacrificing quality . This is going to increase what broadcasters can deliver – adding more feeds and camera angles whilst improving interactivity at events . And let ’ s not forget , 5G will reduce the cost of remote productions therefore we can anticipate broadcasters delivering both more live sports and more content from each event .”
“ With people watching their favourite sports in the comfort of their homes during the lockdown , the sports organisations have an opportunity to increase their fan base ,” suggests Ponda . “ 5G provides two unique benefits : high throughput for high quality video and network slicing which means you can now dedicate bandwidth for specific applications . This will mean better adoption for edgebased deployments and media applications . Innovative technologies like edge-based deployment on 5G will be paramount in ensuring enhanced experiences for these fans who want to enjoy the game remotely . The continued evolution of 5G technology , particularly in a low latency environment will change the sports world effectively . We ’ ll start to see real change for fans in engagement as some will be in the stands and some at home , and the low latency will start to evolve how events are delivered ,” he predicts .
“ Real-time interactive video is not dependent on 5G , but the technology does improve the experience for the end user ,” notes Lepke . “ Latency is one of the main hurdles to overcome with live sports streaming , and fans have been less sympathetic to broadcasters if their stream experiences delays and buffering . Having a high-speed network in place will help increase the reliability of streams and increase video quality to deliver experiences faster than they get on their TV . We also see the benefits of having a solid wireless connection for fans watching events in person . Fans are more engaged than ever - posting to social media , watching highlights , buying merchandise . All of these experiences require good connectivity in a very densely populated venue . 5G will help solve this problem as well .” EVENTS . Major sporting events such as the Olympic Games and football finals are often seen as catalysts for technology innovations . Do the unavoidable postponements from 2020 mean that such momentum has been lost ? “ These delays have caused challenges and frustration , but they have also ramped up viewers expectations ,” says Gaydon . “ Fans are eagerly anticipating events after cancellations and will be keen to engage in unique experiences . It ’ s likely that in-person numbers will still be limited so this is a huge opportunity to leverage new technologies and monetise premium content around key events . We have already seen a lot of innovation , such as the addition of watch together capabilities for many matches , as well as the International Olympic Committee launching virtual sport events .”
Poullaouec says , if anything , “ it has probably speeded up the transition to newer and better production techniques , in terms of accelerating and being more creative with the use of remote production , the use of new technologies for content production , and the mass roll-out of IP technologies to manage content production and transmission .”
EUROMEDIA 15