36th America’s Cup races ahead with distribution to broadcasters covering nearly 200 territories
The America’s Cup will run between 6 March and 21 March 2021
The 36th America’s Cup has confirmed its coverage will be distributed to broadcasters in nearly 200 territories, with the aim of making the competition more accessible at a time when no broadcasters are allowed to attend the event due to the pandemic.
The yacht race has signed a record line up of international broadcasters this year, including TVNZ in New Zealand, RAI and Sky Italia in Italy, the BBC and Sky UK & Ireland in the UK, and NBC Sports in the US and Caribbean.
Due to COVID-19, no broadcasters are physically able to attend the event in Auckland, New Zealand. This means that Imagen’s digital asset management platform will perform a crucial role in storing and distributing the coverage of the event to fans, broadcasters, media, competing teams and sponsors, anywhere, anytime.
Event coverage is produced by two gyro-stabilised cameras on helicopters and two gyro-stabilised cameras, while chase boats and each yacht carries ten cameras, microphones and a wide variety of sensors. Four live feeds are produced, the world feed, two yacht feeds and a data feed, along with short- and long-form highlights and an extensive range of feature content.
The pandemic has created a new set of logistical challenges, making real-time and secure access to footage central to ensuring fans around the world are able to enjoy the races online. Managing and distributing digital media from hours of footage for an event that spans several months is no easy feat, therefore Imagen’s cloud-native digital asset management platform will perform a vital role in the smooth running of the production.
Stephen Nuttall, managing director, media and production, America’s Cup, commented: “After the first America’s Cup 1851, Queen Victoria asked who had finished after the winning yacht, America. The famous reply came: ‘Your Majesty, there is no second’. The America’s Cup relentlessly reinvents itself and we have sought to bring together world-class production and technology within both sailing and other sports.
“We aim to create coverage that brings fans, wherever they are, close to the exciting racing in Auckland’s summer sunshine. Imagen’s digital asset management technology means we’re able to store and distribute footage in real-time to multiple stakeholders, including broadcasters, media, teams, sponsors and the event itself.”
Charlie Horrell, chief executive officer at Imagen, added: “As a digital asset management (DAM) platform with a 25-year legacy, we’re thrilled to support a historic sporting event and match the speed of the yachts with DAM technology that can support the formidable scale of video content produced throughout the series of races. Imagen has teams in both the UK and the US and has closely followed the paths of the New York Yacht Club’s American Magic as well as Britain’s INEOS Team UK, headed up by British sporting legend Sir Ben Ainslie.”
America’s Cup 2021 will run between 6 March and 21 March, with coverage being widely available on the official America’s Cup YouTube channel, Facebook and at americascup.com.