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PACESETTERS
American fans bag a home run through Innovation
FOX SPORTS ARE ALWAYS LISTENING
The Major League Baseball World Series this
year saw The Houston Astros and the Los
Angeles Dodgers battling it out, for what was
in 2016 a prize pool of $25.1 million
($512,000 per player). While the incentive to
play is high, what about the incentive to
watch?
F o r t h e 2 0 th y e a r r u n n i n g F o x Sp o r t s h a d
exclusive television coverage of the World
Series in the US. Marking the momentous
occasion, they pledged to capture every sight
and sound of the World Series; supported by 8
super-slow and hyper motion cameras and a
mic-laden field hiding 14 microphones. A
further 12 microphones were given to
managers, coaches, umpires and a select few
players. Fox’s very own ‘phantom cameras’
flanked the batter to generate numerous
visuals that aided fans’ understanding and
heightened engagement.
Fox relied on over 175 technicians operating
a system that travels more than 3 miles of
fiber optic cable and occupies up to 64
terabytes of data storage. In English that
means 215,000 episodes of Game of Thrones –
go figure! Put simply by Michael Davies, Fox
Sports’ senior vice president of field and
technical operations, “The World Series will
have more motion cameras in play than any
other baseball game on any network ever.”
Houston Astros won this series in resounding
fashion with a 5-1 final score line.
NFL GAME PASS COMES TO EUROPE
To a newcomer, following the world of
American Football can be a daunting task. The
NFL knows this and as a result have addressed
this potential hurdle through the introduction
of the NFL Game Pass. The buzz word in this
venture? – Digital Engagement. The app
provides you with the capability to access
games live and on-demand (HD of course),
offering multiple features such as multi-device
sharing, real-time data and statistics
integration for ‘a reimagined live viewing
experience.’
It is quite literally a VIP pass straight into the
world of NFL, giving you 24/7 access to all
other NFL properties; such as the RedZone
which shows every touchdown or big moment
that occurs every Sunday afternoon. With
access to archives from previous seasons and
content from associated partners, the NFL
Game Pass is a formidable library that can keep
any fan engaged between (and during) matches.
The service has recently been rolled out to
Europe, catering for every type of fan from the
well vetted to the complete rookie. Here on
this continent we’re used to sports matches of
80 or 90 minutes rather than sports with an
average match length of 3 hours and 12
minutes. The NFL Game Pass provides a
digestible and necessary access point to the
world of American Football for those who
currently inhabit a predominantly Football land
(in the true sense of the word).