Live cloud production: AWS on driving alternate sports broadcasts in 2025 and beyond

Former German international right back Patrick Owomoyela taking on the AWS Free Kick challenge during Sports Innovation 2024

By Andrew Reich, Amazon Web Services (AWS) senior industry specialist, BD – media & entertainment, games, and sports.

A growing trend in live sports production, cloud-based media workflows reached an inflexion point in 2024, driven by several milestone developments. First, the National Hockey League (NHL) and Amazon Web Services (AWS) jointly produced the first cloud-based live-to-air broadcast for a major North American sporting event in March. That same month, the 2024 Players Championship used the cloud to power the PGA Tour’s “Every Shot Live” for the third year in a row; the annual initiative enables fans to view every shot on every hole from all 154 players during the tournament.

Today, most major sports broadcasters and leagues are either using or evaluating the cloud for live production or broadcast-related workflows, reimagining how sports are produced and experienced. However, these evaluations don’t necessarily translate to end-to-end live production becoming a standard immediately. Like most meaningful transformations, change is often gradual, and there’s no one-size-fits-all approach. Fortunately, the cloud inherently facilitates flexibility, and I anticipate 2025 will bring some exciting new sports experiences enabled by live cloud production advancements.

Modernising pipelines

The agility the cloud affords production teams is unparalleled. A virtualised broadcast infrastructure ensures they don’t have to worry about traditional physical installations, which require a ton of gear and travel to execute. With the time and budget saved with cloud-based operations, these teams can focus more resources on creative elements of the audience experience, such as alternate broadcasts.

Many sports fans no longer want to watch their favourite teams only on linear broadcast channels; they want more personalised second screen experience, deeper coverage on supplemental channels or apps or via social media platforms, which alternate broadcasts enable. The cloud provides a cost efficient test bed for this kind of programming, whether data-driven, celebrity-hosted, or another format.

The NHL is a great example. It recently delivered a secondary broadcast, themed American Sign Language (ASL) throughout the 2024 Stanley Cup Final. Available on ESPN+ in the US and Sportsnet+ in Canada, it gave audiences a real time, play-by-play coverage of the matchup in ASL. It’s the kind of specialised programming that will be easier to roll out more frequently with a cloud assist. Along with engaging fans in new ways, these alternate broadcasts also open new monetisation opportunities, through additional subscriptions or following an ad-supported model.

Also, the sustainability benefits of cloud-based production cannot be overstated. An average-sized live sports production could require at least one production truck and 20 people to manage a single broadcast. This would generate an estimated 2.05 metric tons of carbon. Using the cloud for production enables broadcasters and leagues to substantially reduce the amount of gear and personnel on site, whether for primary feeds, alternate broadcasts, or all production needs.

Cloud-powered alternate broadcasts

While using the cloud for traditional broadcast requires a deviation from what seems normal, the functions are typically unchanged. The main difference is that all the servers are in the cloud instead of on premises. Still, it is understandable that it will take time for broadcast personnel to become comfortable with live cloud production for high stakes traditional broadcasts.

Many organisations have already made sizable investments in trucks and on-premises equipment, so they’ll want to maximise the value of this infrastructure. Producing alternate broadcasts live in the cloud provides the best of both worlds, maintaining the status quo for primary feeds while facilitating the creation of complementary content with limited overhead. From the viewers’ perspective, it doesn’t matter how content is produced; they just want access to more of it.

At the end of the day, live cloud production is made possible by a complex ecosystem of partners. Cloud providers are responsible for the virtualised infrastructure, but software vendors must optimise their tools to work in both cloud-hosted and on-premises environments. We’ve seen major strides in the last year to ensure parity across operating experiences, so that it doesn’t matter to the person operating replay, graphics, or other broadcast functions whether they’re working on cloud-based workstations or in a traditional production truck.

Furthermore, many of these technology vendors, as well as systems integrators, are creating repeatable templates, making it easier to spin up all the necessary broadcast components. Once a cloud framework is in place, it becomes easier for broadcasters and leagues to fine-tune their settings based on their unique needs, just as they would with a production truck or traditional control room.

Weighing live cloud production advantages

As more broadcasters and leagues lean into cloud-based media pipelines in 2025, not only will they be able to cut down on physical gear and travel costs, but they’ll also unlock a wealth of new engagement and entertainment possibilities. They can produce traditional and alternate programming at scale for a differentiated offering that adds new value for fans. It will also become easier for them to leverage cloud-based technology, like artificial intelligence (AI) or machine learning (ML), to further evolve experiences.

AI and ML, for instance, could help automatically translate programming into different languages or insert custom graphics overlays. These technologies could summarise content, automate the creation of live and updated research packets, and even index clips. Operationally, they can instantly help surface more content to be incorporated into different shows or broadcasts.

For these reasons and beyond, it’s reasonable to expect that by this time next year, we’ll see a significant increase in leagues, broadcasters, and sports teams integrating live cloud production practices or related workflows to create more main and alternate broadcasts. I also anticipate more localized broadcasts and regionalised productions to use world feeds, which will be essential for leagues and teams looking to expand the global reach of their sports. While this trend poses massive operational benefits for productions, the biggest winners might just be the fans.

 

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