Supercup 2023: How DFL and Viaplay tested 5G transmission tech

The German Supercup is often used as an opportunity to trial new tech, and this year’s tie between Bayern Munich and RB Leipzig was no different.

The fixture, which is an annual one-off match between the winners of the Bundesliga championship and the DFB-Pokal cup competition, took place this year in August at Munich’s Allianz Arena where DFL and media partner Viaplay tested 5G transmission of individual camera signals in an international setting for the first time.

Viaplay commentator Mateusz Juza and a cameraman with 5G module on the pitch prior to the DFL Supercup 2023 match between FC Bayern München and RB Leipzig at Allianz Arena in Munich. Photo: DFL/Getty/Sebastian Widmann

This gave the Viaplay field reporters added flexibility, enabling them to use new camera positions and perspectives for their live interviews.

Viaplay owns Bundesliga broadcasting rights in several European countries, including Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Iceland, Poland and The Netherlands. The broadcasting group regularly dispatches its own field reporters to Bundesliga stadiums to provide fans with exclusive reporting before and after matches, including live interviews. Compared to the conventional, wired method of transmitting these live reports, a 5G set-up helps to increase flexibility, enabling new reporter and camera positions and perspectives. Viaplay Poland immediately welcomed the DFL’s suggestion to use 5G camera signals in its Supercup reporting.

In a blog post on the DFL website, Viaplay Poland head of sports Paweł Wilkowicz hailed it as “the new way of storytelling”.

The 5G cellular network standard opens up a host of new options for transmitting sport events. The DFL has been active in this area for several years, testing – jointly with partners – a variety of application scenarios.

Last year’s Supercup at the Leipzig Red Bull Arena provided the backdrop for the first-ever open trial of 5G mobile network technology. Fans at the stadium were able to try out the features of the 5G In-Stadium App developed jointly by DFL, Vodafone and the French provider Immersiv.io

One of the Bundesliga stadiums already equipped with a permanent 5G network is FC Bayern München’s Allianz Arena where the Supercup 2023 provided an ideal environment for the first-ever live test of 5G transmission technology in an international setting.

Under the leadership of DFL subsidiary Sportcast, the project was prepared jointly with Viaplay as well as TVN as a technical service provider, using hardware by TVU Network and the mobile network services of Deutsche Telekom.

In addition to the usual stand-up position next to the pitch, a number of alternative interview points were arranged: near the press box, in the dressing room, in the tunnel, and in the fan corridor – places that would have been impractical for running a cable connection between the camera and the broadcast vehicle.

In addition, the TVN site in Hanover was included in the transmission chain to monitor the streams going to Poland.

The DFL wrote that Sportcast believes that in a future, standardised 5G transmission scenario, this additional precautionary QA step might be skipped to further reduce the overall effort and optimise costs.

From a technical viewpoint, the success of this test hinged upon the availability of sufficient 5G network bandwidth. For this purpose the sending units were given prioritised 5G SIM cards whose signals were always transmitted preferentially.

Thanks to the careful preparations by all partners, the technical implementation worked flawlessly, DFL reported, with Viaplay indicating that it is interested in pursuing the tech further.