Euro 2024: UEFA’s technical broadcast operation
Leipziger Messe: Hall 4 of the venue will be dedicated to the IBC during Euro 2024
UEFA has outlined its technical broadcast operations plan for Euro 2024, with all matches to be produced in a single-layer 1080p50 HDR (hybrid log-gamma, HLG) production format and, for the first time, the use of virtual board replacement for tailored ads in some countries.
UEFA’s multi-feed offering provides its broadcast partners with access to a variety of live feeds, including the main match feed – the live stadium feed, available in SDI 1080p50 HDR, 1080p50 SDR and 1080i50.
For the first time at the Euros, broadcast partners will be able to access all live feeds remotely through the Content Hub/POP (points-of-presence) service provided by UEFA’s distribution partner, Eurovision Services.
Read more Euro 2024: UEFA’s live production plans
Broadcast partners can receive their content via POPs in four major European data centres: Amsterdam, Frankfurt, London and New York.
UEFA said that subject to broadcast partners’ bookings, the satellite global distribution of the world feed of all matches at UEFA Euro 2024 is in 1080i & 1080p SDR.
In addition to the traditional satellite distribution of the live stadium feed and remotely through the Content Hub/POP, broadcast partners can access all live feeds directly at the venue and at the IBC.
Audio
The audio production plan is based on various key deliverables, including high-quality stereo TV international sound (TVIS), Dolby surround sound and immersive audio. The surround sound is encoded and embedded on the world feed via satellite only.
The LSF 1080p50 SDR and 1080i50 feeds at the venue, IBC and Content Hub carry the surround sound components, while the LSF 1080p50 HDR at the venues, IBC and Content Hub carry the immersive audio components, providing broadcast partners with the tools to produce their own customised audio experience for their audiences.
IBC
Hall 4 of the Leipziger Messe venue is dedicated to the IBC during UEFA Euro 2024. The entire venue exceeds 20,000m², including over 8,000m2 of newly constructed space.
The IBC is the temporary hub for UEFA’s broadcast operations and those of the broadcast partners housed there during UEFA Euro 2024. All multilateral feeds coming from all ten tournament venues are received at and distributed worldwide from the IBC.
UEFA football technology operations for UEFA Euro 2024 will also be hosted at the IBC in their own dedicated hub. In the four video operation rooms, the video match officials – video assistant referees (VARs) and assistant video assistant referees (AVARs) – oversee all matches of the tournament.
The hub receives all data collected by the various UEFA football technologies using optical cameras installed in each stadium, in the case of goal-line technology (GLT) and electronic performance and tracking systems (EPTS), or sensors in the ball itself (connected ball). Data is quality-controlled live and distributed in real time to UEFA’s various applications, such as semi-automated offside technology (SAOT) or the performance analyst portal.
UEFA has put in place a fully redundant optical fibre network to connect all ten venues to the IBC. This network supports the multilateral feeds as well as a variety of unilateral feeds from broadcast partners, and is delivered with the help of Deutsche Telekom, UEFA’s official telecom partner in Germany.
The core network is based on a fully redundant dense wavelength division multiplex (DWDM) infrastructure and offers a capacity of 2 x 200 Gbps per venue. Both unilateral and multilateral HD video and audio (VandA) feeds are transmitted uncompressed between the venues and the IBC to ensure the highest possible quality.
Meanwhile, this year’s competition is the first UEFA Euro to include virtual board replacement (VBR), which allows for the replacement of specific advertisements displayed on the in-stadium LED boards with alternative advertisements for target markets. The regions that receive the VBR live stadium feed are China, Germany and the US.
Read more: Euro 2024: UEFA’s ENG crews at the ready