Sky Sports and Premier League to trial ‘Game Mode’ railcam view during Arsenal v Man City match

Sky Sports and the Premier League will trial ‘Game Mode’ at the Emirates Stadium this Sunday, with a Batcam-supplied railcam providing a viewing experience akin to the perspective used in football video games.

Coverage of the Arsenal v Manchester City (Sunday 8 October) tie via ‘Game Mode’ – which will track the action from side to side – will be available on the Sky Sports Football channel.

Game Mode will act as a camera 1 replacement, meaning that viewers will still see all the other shots used on the main coverage, as well as replays and graphics. Also, railcam will be available as a replay on Sky’s standard coverage of the match.

WSL tests

After an initial period of testing, the ‘Game Mode’ camera was trialled last weekend at Emirates Stadium for the Women’s Super League fixture between Arsenal and Liverpool.

This is the first time Sky has used a gantry level railcam in football and has been built in close collaboration with both the Premier League and Arsenal.

The Batcam system in place at the Emirates

The Premier League will make ‘Game Mode’ available to all of its international broadcast partners, and if Sunday’s trial proves successful the camera could be utilised for all future Premier League fixtures at the Emirates Stadium this season.

In the UK, standard coverage of Arsenal v Manchester City will broadcast on the Sky Sports Premier League channel, with an alternative feed of the match featuring ‘Game Mode’ airing live on the Sky Sports Football channel, where standard camera 1 coverage will be replaced with the ‘Game Mode’ camera.

Sky Sports said the camera will give the viewer a greater appreciation of space as well as showing runs and ball movement from a different perspective.

Sky Sports director of production Phil Marshall said: “We’re very excited to see what ‘Game Mode’ can bring to the overall viewing experience for fans and believe it has great potential when it comes to in-game innovation. We thank Arsenal FC and the Premier League for their support in testing this innovation.”

Premier League head of media operations and innovation Rachael Nightingale added: “The Premier League is always looking for ways to enhance the broadcast experience for fans around the world. During this period of testing with Sky Sports and Arsenal FC, we hope ‘Game Mode’ will provide a new and exciting way to enjoy the action at home.”