Globecast employs IP and cloud distribution for Malaga Premier Padel P1
In a year that is expected to be instrumental in driving the growth of racket sport padel around the world, broadcast services company Globecast has revealed that, as of early 2024, it has been supporting the Qatar Airways Premier Padel Tour – which included a stop in Malaga, Spain last week (6-14 July) – with an IP/cloud distribution model that utilises the SRT (Secure Reliable Transport) video streaming protocol.
Sharing the same scoring system as tennis, but with different rules and enclosed courts, padel was first played in Mexico in 1969. In the past five years, however, it has enjoyed a massive surge in popularity, in large part due to its suitability for outdoor play with no physical contact tallying neatly with Covid-era requirements. Professionally, the sport has ramped up significantly since 2023, when Premier Padel acquired the rival World Padel Tour to create a new unified pro circuit that encompasses 25 tournaments across 17 countries and five continents.
There has also been a decisive shift in the distribution and delivery model deployed by Globecast, which has been supporting the broadcast of Premier Padel tournaments since October 2022. First implemented earlier this year, the new approach – which eschews the previous satellite-based model – is currently in use at the latest stop on the Premier Padel Tour, Malaga Premier Padel P1.
Steve MacMurray, digital media development manager contribution at Globecast, recalls the major milestones to date of the collaboration with Premier Padel. “Originally we were supplying them with a more traditional, wide beam European satellite and downlink model, which was then passed on to terrestrial fibre for their takers,” he says. “That was a very robust and reliable solution, but as with a lot of racket sports you have to overbook to ensure you get the capacity you need. Games can be wrapped up really quickly or go on for hours, so it does pose a bit of a headache in terms of provisioning capacity, especially during the traditional pinch-points on Saturday and Sunday when all of the other sports are in the mix.”
So there was already an impetus towards a more flexible approach when Premier Padel expanded its number of events from 8 to 25 at the start of 2024. “Doing a ‘lift and shift’ towards an IP/cloud distribution model seemed like a perfect fit for a number of reasons, with network contention probably being the primary one,” says MacMurray. “It took quite a bit of groundwork to get the confidence of everybody, but we made sure that we weren’t rushing it through. There was a really good element of constructive dialogue and a lot of credit should go to Premier Padel for having the kind of foresight and confidence in us to deliver a real paradigm shift in their distribution model.”
A universal language
The SRT video transport protocol was part of the new distribution model from a formative stage. “There is now a large fluency with SRT, [to the point] that it’s very much become a universal language and broadcast standard in terms of IP delivery,” says MacMurray. “It’s open-source technology, so it’s very accessible and the barrier to entry is very low, while operationally it’s very sound and robust. [In the case of Premier Padel] a lot of the takers were already conversant with receiving SRT for live sports content.”
The move to IP also ensured that Premier Padel would have the ease of scalability befitting a tour whose broadcast market is still growing rapidly. “Taking into account the increase in capacity and the ramping-up of the tournament, the IP/SRT delivery really made a lot of sense,” says MacMurray, adding that at present 15 different broadcasters are taking primary court feeds from the new IP/cloud distribution platform.
Steve MacMurray, Globecast
There was extensive “two-step testing” before the first event with the new configuration, which was held in Riyadh in February. “The first part was testing from Globecast to each individual end-taker to ensure that we were tailored to their particular firewall and security permissioning. [As opposed to adopting] a ‘one test fits all’ approach, doing it individually pays dividends as you can really get some dialogue going with the takers and ensure that everybody is comfortable. It also greatly reduces any potential anxiety, should there be any changes during the middle of a tournament.”
Once the individual tests had been conducted and the “integrity of delivery between the broadcast and broadcaster endpoints” established, the second step entailed a “full-end-to-end test with a host broadcaster and their platform output, going all the way through to us and beyond. At that point we had the parity to be able to really zero-in on any points that needed refinement very quickly,” he adds.
With sufficient “scalability and the ability to onboard more takers as interest grows”, the Globecast team also benefited from the testing period taking place some time before the new tour got underway. “Instead of having to run things kind of in parallel with the satellite distribution, by taking that time out and reinventing things we could make sure that everyone was comfortable before any padel shots were ‘fired in anger’, so to speak,” notes MacMurray.
Padel momentum
The inherent scalability of the new distribution model is set to prove invaluable if – as predicted – the sport continues to grow rapidly year-on-year. According to a recent MarketWatch report, the padel sports market is increasing at a CAGR of 7.5%, with its 2024 value of $222.3 million expected to hit $370.3 million by 2032. More imminently, the Padel ‘Majors’ held in Doha (February) and Rome (June) will be followed by three more – in Paris (30 September to 6 October), Acapulco (25 November to 1 December) and the Premier Padel Finals in Barcelona (18-22 December) – before 2024 wraps up.
Rob Mitchell, commercial director, Premier Padel, says: “We are committed to growing padel and bringing the sport to new audiences and territories worldwide. Working with trusted providers like Globecast provides us with the necessary support to ensure the smooth broadcast delivery of the tour.”
“It’s not our first rodeo when it comes to IP/cloud distribution,” affirms MacMurray. “We’ve spent a long time refining our platform and approach, so we’re very confident about the technology we are using, as well as the top-quality service wrap. [Consequently, we are ready to] support Premier Padel as their sport evolves and they develop household names and stars, which is also likely to mean a demand for very tailored feeds supporting the interest in related content.”
Read more Smashing padel: Inside Aurora’s innovative production of the inaugural Hexagon Cup