Sports TV Awards 2021 Finalist: Remote Football by Sky Sports

The return of football was a huge morale boost to the country, and Sky Sports, NEP, and NEP developed new workflows in an incredibly tight timeframe to deliver it

Credit: Sky Sports (2021)

The Premier League and Football League returned to UK TV screens after a 100-day absence in June 2020, and under extraordinary circumstances, Sky Sports were able to deliver the return of football through their innovative use of remote production workflows, earning them a coveted place on the highly competitive SVG Europe Sports TV Awards 2021 shortlist for ‘Outstanding Production Achievement – Event.’

The challenge Sky Sports faced was completing 100 games within a 40 day period in the safest possible way. Compressing the remaining games into a short time span meant that Sky Sports were producing live UHD double, triple, and even quadruple headers (including Wolves, Aston Villa, Tottenham, and Bournemouth all playing on one Sunday) to get everything to air, whilst also complying with social distancing measures and complete temperature checks on everyone involved.

The timelines were extremely tight – with only two weeks from fixture announcement to kick off, and under new restrictions, the planning time for the teams was unprecedented. To maximise distancing and reduce travel under full lockdown, Sky Sports, together with NEP and NEP Connect, rapidly moved the Premier League to a remote production model which enabled them to half the number of people on site whilst maintaining a high standard of viewer experience.

The winners of the SVG Europe Sports TV Awards 2021, sponsored by Canon, will be announced on Thursday 28 October at Chelsea F.C. during the Sport Production & Technology Summit 2021. Registration for both events is now open to members and sponsors here.