K League 1 to deliver season opener live to social media using Grabyo

K League 1, the top-tier Korean football league, begins its postponed season on Friday with a global match broadcast live to social media using Grabyo. K League is using Grabyo’s cloud video platform to produce and deliver the season opener between Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors and Suwon Samsung Bluewings to its YouTube and Twitter channels on Friday at 7pm (KST).

K League is the first major football league to resume action after postponements and cancellations due to the COVID-19 health pandemic. With current restrictions on public gatherings, only essential personnel can be present at the match. Grabyo’s cloud-native live production platform will enable K League’s team to work remotely and safely from anywhere in the world, collaborating in real-time to deliver the match broadcast.

Commentator Simon Hill will be calling the match completely remotely, using Grabyo’s remote contribution capabilities. Hill is based in Australia and will be able to appear on the broadcast using a laptop/PC with a microphone. K League’s production set up may act as a blueprint for other sporting events across the world to resume during the current health pandemic.

Elliot Renton, senior director and head of APAC at Grabyo, commented: “This is a significant step forward for football and it’s fantastic to see sport begin to resume in Asia. Many football fans will be delighted to see this happening and Grabyo is very proud to play a key part in making this happen and delivering the live game to a worldwide audience.

“We have been helping sports organisations and broadcasters to engage fans in a time of no sport, and with new developments to our live and remote production capabilities the K-League are well placed to win new audiences keen to see live football via social media.”