SVG Europe’s Sports Broadcasting Achievements presented at FutureSPORT 2023 event
Levon Melikian (centre), managing director of European League of Football production partner novel.media, with Vizrt’s Andrew O’Neil (right) and SVG Europe’s George Bevir (left).
Four ground-breaking projects were showcased at last Thursday’s FutureSPORT event, as SVG Europe presented its inaugural Sports Broadcasting Achievements (SBAs), sponsored by Canon.
The four case studies included the sustainability drive during the 2023 BMW PGA Championship, the introduction of team radio during the Tour de France, TV 2’s shift to centralised production and the European League of Football’s transition to cloud-based production.
“This initiative serves as a testament to the ever-evolving landscape of sports media and the visionaries who drive innovation,” said Jack Adair, Canon Sector Marketing for Broadcast & Cinema Production.
The SBAs are part of SVG Europe’s ongoing commitment to exploring and honouring the exceptional endeavours of individuals, teams, and organisations that are advancing sports broadcasting and production in Europe.
Attendees at FutureSPORT, which took place on 23 November at the Oval in London, heard from those involved in the production, with insight into the aims of each project and the challenges they faced.
The Sports Broadcasting Achievements 2023:
2023 BMW PGA Championship
The 2023 BMW PGA Championship on the DP World Tour with IMG as production partner made history as the first sporting event to have its television production powered entirely by green hydrogen, thereby producing zero carbon emissions.
This remarkable feat, which took place at Wentworth Club, Surrey in September, saw the use of hydrogen-powered generators save a total of 16.4 tonnes of CO2 compared to the 2022 tournament.
The DP World Tour’s Green Drive initiative has led the way in sustainability efforts, committing to being fully net zero carbon by 2040.
Left to right: SVG Europe’s Heather McLean, with Peter Ward of Film & TV Services, Paul Williams of IMG and Jez Stratford of Geo Pura.
Tour de France – Team Radio
ASO (Amaury Sport Organisation) introduced Team Radio to the international broadcast of the Tour de France, giving a public dimension to communications between sports directors and their riders.
Tim Roggeman, Boost, (left) with SVG Europe’s George Bevir.
It was described by ASO as “the innovation of the year” and was a collaborative effort with France Télévisions, the host broadcaster, and the EMG group.
EMG teams under the Boost Graphics banner were responsible for the reception, transcription, and graphical presentation of Team Radio.
During the three weeks of the Tour de France, 1,141 Team Radio pieces of content were produced and shared with broadcasters, social networks, and cycling teams.
Read more FutureSPORT 2023 picture gallery
TV2 Centralised Production Operation
Left to right: Eirik Nakken, NEP Norway, Mats Berggren, DMC, Mathias Krispersen, Telenor, Jens Cornelius Knudsen, TV 2, George Bevir, SVG Europe.
In 2023, TV2, in collaboration with facilities firms NEP and DMC, initiated a remote production model for approximately 600 games per year in various sports.
This approach, which includes football, ice hockey, handball, volleyball, floorball, and basketball, has plans to dramatically increase to over 1,000 games next year.
Automation played a pivotal role in reducing the number of on-site staff, resulting in cost-efficient productions. Centralising production in Oslo not only saved costs but also contributed to sustainability gains.
European League of Football Cloud-Based Production
During 2023, ELF (European League of Football) and its production agency novel.media transitioned to remote production in the cloud.
This decision aimed to increase value for sponsors with improved advertising options while reducing production costs and the carbon footprint. Collaborating with Vizrt and AWS, they implemented an end-to-end cloud setup which eliminated the need for directors, graphics designers, operators, sound engineers, and other technicians to travel to game venues, which also resulted in a reduction of over 300 tons of CO2 emissions for the season.
The four Sports Broadcasting Achievements projects were selected by the SVG Europe editorial team and current and former chairs of the SVG Europe Advisory Board. Together, they considered projects and productions of all sizes from across Europe that embraced new technologies, took risks, and introduced innovative solutions that demonstrably advanced the way sports content is captured, managed, manipulated, and delivered.
Videos of the presentations at FutureSPORT 2023 will be available shortly.
Read more FutureSPORT 2023: AI and sustainability top the agenda at packed SVG Europe event