Behind the scenes: DMC and Superligaen realise Matchday Production vision

When Danish top-flight football league Superliga started its new season in July this year, it was with a completely new broadcasting set-up. Last year, production company DMC and Superligaen, the company owned by the 12 clubs competing in the Superliga, created Matchday Production, an entity whose main objective is to deliver a comprehensive broadcast feed of live matches sold to broadcasters.

To discuss this setup in further detail, SVG Europe spoke to Claus Thomsen, chief executive of Divisionsforeningen, the body that represents all the Danish football leagues including the Superliga, and Mats Berggren, chief operating officer at DMC.

Thomsen explains that the idea behind setting up something like Matchday Production is not a new one. “It is a thought we have had for some time, and we have had a dialogue with several potential partners,” he says, “but when we started our dialogue with DMC it became more serious as we saw in them a partner that was interested in relishing the opportunities in setting up such a venture.”

Matchday Production set-up

The new production company has been established with the main objective of streamlining the live-broadcast process. It has an almost even split across the two partners, with Superligaen A/S owning a 49% share and DMC a 51% share.

The responsibility structures are set up in such a way that Superligaen handles aspects such as rights and managing relations with the broadcasters and clubs, while DMC handles the technical set-up, production and operations – using its knowledge and experience in delivering high-end state-of-the-art live sports production.

Berggren underlines that DMC as a company had spearheaded remote production and utilising this was a key objective and ambition for Matchday Production moving forward.

As Thomsen highlights, this is not two different companies, rather Matchday Production is an independent company. “We run it jointly together, we are also equally at the board – but the management is an independent one where there is a link to us and DMC, but to clarify it is an independent production which Matchday produces,” he adds.

To avoid confusion, Thomsen felt it important to clarify the difference between Matchday Productions and Superligaen, explaining that the new company decides everything that directly relates to the production, such as how many cameras, angles, the quality and the production set-up, and Superligaen decides the planning of matches such as on what days and time the matches are played.

It is Superligaen that sets the match production with Matchday to the standards agreed between the two entities, however neither Matchday Production nor Superligaen have any editorial involvement. There’s even an agreement between the parties that when it comes to the production, the broadcaster can bring in a producer who has decision making input into how the production is delivered.

Another objective behind establishing Matchday Production was to create a more centralised and efficient service. Thomsen says: “Before Matchday Production, different companies would handle the production of the matches which would then be bought by the broadcaster. This is the function that Matchday Production will now take on.”

The Divisionsforeningen head further explains that Matchday Production’s remote production set-up means that all of Denmark’s 55 stadiums are connected to the Matchday HQ in Copenhagen, via a contribution ring, allowing it to film in one location and do the production in another.

Adding context to this, Berggren says: “We can do remote production from all Superliga venues but right now, in the start-up phase, to ease the pressure on our MCR we are limiting it to two simultaneous Superliga games at the most.”

The contribution ring is a ring network that has been procured by Matchday Production to give them full control of the network. It features 10Gbit ‘sprouts’ to the arenas and redundant 100Gbit lines to the broadcast centre. The network provider is TDC, the largest telecom operator in Denmark. “We also have redundant lines to the broadcasters,” Berggren adds.

Making it a reality

In order to make Matchday Production a success, DMC brought in Germany’s Broadcast Solutions, who helped them create the Copenhagen HQ.

The new facility is equipped with Grass Valley Kula switchers, Kayenne control surfaces and Grass Valley vision mixers. It also features mc²36 audio consoles from Lawo, a talkback system and MediorNet Horizon processing platform from Riedel, while EVS provided XT servers as well as its Xeebra platform to handle VAR. Net Insight’s Nimbra application enables remote production, while the graphics systems was tailor-made by Danish company TV-graphics.

The Copenhagen facility covers 1,800sqm, including a 400sqm studio, four main control rooms with capacity for up to 40 cameras, including Grass Valley’s LDX 98 which is used for all production purposes, DJI’s Ronin 4D, used for ENG and effects footage, and the DJI Mini 4 Pro Drone, which is used for aerial as well as external shots.

Broadcast Solutions built four vehicles and four flypacks for the on-site facilities, including control for the Grass Valley cameras and Lawo audio mixers.

Asset management is provided via Framelight X from Grass Valley. And the infrastructure, including Cisco IP switches and Riedel routers, is managed by hi human interface, the control solution for media infrastructures developed by Broadcast Solutions.

In addition, Zero Density provided an end-to-end solution for two white-label virtual studios in Copenhagen. The setup includes Zero Density’s Reality5 virtual production platform, plus Traxis Camera Tracking, Traxis Talent Tracking, and EVO II render engines.

Berggren adds that an ambition of Matchday Production was “to create a centralised remote production facility”, one that would reduce the need for extensive on-site equipment and personnel.

All 800 matches of the Danish leagues will be broadcast live, “though not all of those would be broadcast on linear TV, with some available as video on demand”, he adds.

While it is Matchday Production that oversees the full production, the facility is also set up to cater for its clients; in the case of Superligaen it is tailored to meet the requirements of TV 2 and Viaplay who share the broadcasting rights.

“We have three production models, based on the size of the production,” Berggren explains. For a standard Superliga match the set-up is generally six cameras in total – two large, two medium and two small – to ensure all the action is captured. It is produced in HD at 1080p, though Berggren underlines: “It is our ambition at the start of 2025 to deliver HDR, but it is dependent upon broadcasters being able to accept it.”

At its HQ in Copenhagen, Matchday Production’s four control rooms are also be able to handle several matches simultaneously, “though this of course depends on how large those productions are”, Berggren says.

“On a Sunday there are two Superliga matches at 14:00, one at 18:00 and another at 20:00, as they’re sent to different broadcasters it is a juggling process,” he continues. “The broadcaster showing the given match will receive the feed from Matchday Production via a fibre connection. To TV 2 we have a 100-megabit connection and to Viaplay a dark fibre connection.”