Danley Loudspeakers Deliver Sound For Sterlington High School Football Stadium
The Sterlington High School Panthers football team was runner up in Class 3A football in the state of Louisiana in 2018, and high school football plays a huge role in the rural community of Sterlington and Ouachita Parish. The Panthers play in Sterlington Stadium, which can pack in nearly 4,000 screaming fans on a good night. After fifteen years with a sound system that never quite lived up to expectations, local music store and AV integrator Matt’s Music designed and installed a fully-weatherized Danley Sound Labs sound reinforcement system that delivers excellent intelligibility and big SPLs from an end zone scoreboard.
“Sterlington Stadium had a pair of loudspeakers out on the scoreboard that were not working well,” said Tony Cortellini, sales engineer with the contracting division of Matt’s Music. “They had aged, but the school wasn’t able to come up with a budget to replace them. So, they asked us to refurbish the existing loudspeakers and move them to light poles nearer the stands. That was a passable solution until a tornado hit the stadium and knocked the poles to the ground. They finally had to replace the scoreboard and wanted an attached sound system. Since they were looking for a long throw from the score board, I immediately thought of Danley.”
“Tony reached out to me regarding the design of a Danley system at Sterlington High School, and we agreed that a Danley demo would give the school peace of mind that they were making the right decision,” said Kim Comeaux, western sales manager at Danley. “Based on the layout of the field and stands, we demoed the Danley SH46 for coverage of the home stands and field and the Danley OS80 for the visitor stands. They immediately loved it! But doing their due diligence, the school arranged a second demo with another loudspeaker manufacturer. Danley was the clear winner on sound quality, coverage, and total final price.”
As the school had to adhere to their budget, they opted to forgo subwoofers in favor of broad coverage that would also include the far end zone, where a significant number of spectators regularly gather for games. To deliver that broad coverage, Tony manufactured custom brackets for the Danley SH46s so they could fire horizontally to give a combined 120 degrees of coverage. A single Danley OS80 covers the smaller visitor side bleachers. All three Danley boxes are fully-weatherized and ready to take on the subtropical Louisiana summers. A single four-channel Danley DNA 10k4 Pro amplifier, with integrated DSP, powers the system. “I’ve learned my lesson on Danley amps,” Tony said. “I used to put in other manufacturers’ amps, but the Danley amps are loaded with Danley-specific presets that work perfectly with all of their models. It’s just so superior and makes the entire Danley system work at maximum efficiency.”
Tony continued: “Danley has been my go-to for several years. Tom Danley’s patented synergy-horn technologies sound amazing, even at a distance. They’ve got the power. They’re made in the USA. Danley offers me great factory support, and they’re always ready to offer demos for prospective clients. Add up all those reasons, and Danley is a rock solid way to go for me.” During the commissioning and training, Tony walked the field and the stands with the Sterlington High School principal, the football coach, and other members of the staff with an interest in the system. The coverage was even, and the sound quality and volume were levels above where they had been previously.
Paul Brown Stadium Re-Energises with Custom RCF Loudspeakers
Durrel Sports teamed up with RCF to deliver its concert-ready, signature sound to the Cincinnati Bengals' home field. With more than 580 large-format speakers among RCF catalog products and custom builds, Paul Brown Stadium recharged as one of the best sounding sports facilities in the US. All delivered on time despite the global pandemic.
For the last 20 years, the Cincinnati Bengals have been taking on NFL rivals at Paul Brown Stadium. This 65,515-seat gridiron arena that has always placed a premium on the strength and quality of its audio systems. Equally known as the site of performances by artists ranging from Kenny Chesney to Guns N’ Roses, PBS, as locals call it, subscribe to the notion that sound traveling throughout its concourses and seating areas should live up to concert-level expectations at all levels, whether it be on game day or for special events.
To that end, a three-phase project to re-energize the stadium’s original, 20 year-old audio blueprint was just completed this fall, debuting on October 4th before a reduced crowd that watched as the Bengals beat the visiting Jacksonville Jaguars. Designed and implemented by Nashville, Tennessee-based Durrell Sports Audio Management, the new system is an amalgam of workhorse legacy components, upgraded audio processing, and custom loudspeakers built in Italy expressly to meet the needs of this unique application by RCF.
“Paul Brown Stadium is unlike any other around the country when it comes to audio,” Durrell’s John Horrell explained. “Every aspect of its game-day production from simple announcements to music is as live as you can get. There is nothing here that even vaguely resembles a pre recorded TV show. That’s why when we were chosen to upgrade the audio we felt it was essential to create a system that was capable of true, concert-level high performance.”
The upgrade project was implemented in three phases, with the first kicking-off in 2018 and bringing, among other things, new delay loudspeakers from RCF to the upper deck and canopy level. Phase two added approximately 120 new RCF loudspeakers to the lower level and 70 more to the canopy level in 2019, along with eight dual 21-inch RCF subwoofers on each side of the canopy level.
Phase three of the project was approved in January 2020, so by February, the job was underway, with Durrell working hand-in-hand with Louisville, Kentucky’s United Electric to turn the new vision into reality. As the pandemic tightened its grip globally on labor and material beginning in March, the design and install team steadfastly kept to construction deadlines with help from suppliers and manufacturers including RCF.
Critical to the audio heard within this space as well as sound traveling throughout the entire bowl, custom-built, hand-assembled loudspeakers from RCF figured prominently within the phase three additions. Wide horizontal coverage cabinets designated as model HVL 15-L1 and narrow coverage speakers bearing the model number HVL 15-P1 were provided by the Italian manufacturer as one-off custom units built to Durrell’s specs just for PBS. In between these custom long-throw boxes, standard offerings from the RCF catalog including model P 4228, P 3115T, and P 6215 cabinets were interspersed as downfill in large number.
Based around a horn-loaded symmetric design, the custom HVL 15-L1 cabinets from RCF are outfitted with a pair of 15-inch drivers at the low-end, a pair of 10-inch midrange drivers, and two titanium dome compression drivers with four-inch voice coils at the top. All of the transducers feature neodymium magnets. With a frequency response of 43 Hz – 18,000 Hz (-10 dB), these three-way, long-throw boxes are driven in bi-amped mode and are capable of producing a maximum SPL of 133 dB (LF) and 145 dB (MHF). Horizontal coverage is 90°, while vertical coverage spans 30°.
The eight HVL 15-P1 loudspeakers built by RCF for the PBS installation share many of the same design characteristics as their 15-L1 brethren, once again operating in the same frequency range and employing a bi-amped, horn-loaded symmetric design, passive filtering between the mid and high-frequency sections, and the same external construction. Equipped with the same latest generation transducers as the 15-L1 across the board, the 15-P1s differ in that they offer 60° x 30° coverage.
Widely recognized for their ability to put serious sonic horsepower within the confines of a stadium while maintaining intelligibility and even coverage at every seat, Durrell spent a lot of time analyzing the Q values required of the system and had the custom RCF long-throw enclosures built accordingly. Q is the directivity factor of the speaker.
“Understanding the Q speaker values in a stadium environment is imperative to managing reflections,” John said. “Q, of course, in its simplest terms, is the speaker ‘throw’ value—how far the audio carries away from the speaker. Designing the correct Q speaker values in PBS was our biggest challenge, and with proper processing plus the custom RCF boxes built right to our own precise specs, we created a distributed system that no matter where you’re sitting you won’t be annoyed by a loudspeaker intended to bring coverage to somewhere else.”
Out in the bowl and throughout the concourse levels, Scott Simpson, executive producer of JungleVision Productions, relates that the renewed audio system’s RCF loudspeakers differ from their predecessors in terms of balance and overall coverage. “The expanded coverage in the facility is outstanding, it’s a whole new experience for our fans. Live stadium sound is a unique animal in that hard, reflective surfaces and wide-open spaces abound. The thought that went into this design combined with the presence of the fans in the stands to help absorb unwanted reflections brings the whole system to life. Paul Brown Stadium can now continue to classify itself as one of the truly great sounding venues on the planet.”
As for how the stadium sounds now from John's perspective, he has this to say: “When we debuted the system the crowd may have been small, but it was very enthusiastic. We were all tickled to death with how it sounded. It had punch, and nothing was compressed to death. The linearity was great and evoked emotion—a pure presence that moved and excited everyone. OK, I’m an analog guy, but that’s hard to get out of a digital product. It additionally has dynamics that make it one of the better systems in the NFL. We could never have done this with line arrays, and given the history, this all should last another 20 years or more.”
Led by CEO Arturo Vicari, the RCF team working in Italy was dedicated to getting the enclosures designed, built, and delivered to Paul Brown Stadium on time. “All of us here and in Italy felt this project was vital as a boost to everyone’s morale,” said RCF USA National Sales Manager Tarik Solangi. “With added precautions made to keep everyone safe on the job, the factory churned out the work and kept our delivery promises. Beyond the virus, our biggest challenge was fitting our products into the exacting requirements dictated by the stadium.”
For CEO Vicari the project represents a milestone in that it brings RCF’s signature sound to one of the most prominent sporting facilities in the US. “All things considered,” he confided, “it was a considerable challenge for us given the complications created by the pandemic. Credit really is due to all the teams on both sides of the Atlantic that nonetheless executed the task with flawless organization and coordination. The project was an ambitious one even when viewed through the lens of a pre-COVID-19 world. Accomplishing it decisively and on schedule within the context of today’s difficulties is testament to the efforts of everyone involved.”
JBL Professional Audio System Delivers Sound for Bloomfield Stadium
KLEY-ZEMER’s professional division KZPRO (R.B.X international) were chosen to supply a state-of-the-art JBL Professional audio system for the 60-year-old Bloomfield football stadium during its extensive three-year renovation project. The installation was a cooperation between independent consultant Harel Tabibi, integration company Barkai LTD and installation company The Charmer Group.
Bloomfield stadium, home of Hapoel Tel Aviv, Maccabi Tel Aviv and Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv football clubs, first opened in 1962. In addition to hosting three football clubs, the veteran stadium has accommodated world-renown musical acts including Celine Dion, Rihanna, and Pixies. In 2016, the stadium was closed for a massive three-year renovation, which included expanding the capacity to 29,150 seats, making it the third-largest football stadium in Israel. Barkai LTD was brought in to outfit the newly renovated stadium with a sound system that would be loud enough for football matches, had clear and responsive sonic quality for concerts, and could withstand extreme weather conditions.
“The main challenge of this project was to give appropriate sound coverage to the southern and northern balconies that are not roofed,” said independent consultant Harel Tabibi, who specified and designed the new sound system. “As a result, we had to install the speakers over the sides of the balcony, 80 meters away from the audience. The main advantage of working with JBL was having such a wide range of products to choose from. Combining the PD-6000 series and PD-500 series loudspeakers created a quality result and gave equal and uniform coverage throughout the stadium.”
The system installed by The Charmer Group includes 80 JBL PD564 WRC loudspeakers, which have a high output capability, excellent pattern control and are ideal for music and speech systems. The stadium was also equipped with 12 PD6322 WRC loudspeakers, which were chosen for their high output sensitivity and extended low-frequency response. The speakers were powered by 16 of Crown’s flagship I-TECH 4X3500-HD power amps, selected for their ability to deliver uncompromising power output across four channels.
Systems engineer Babo Levy from Charmer Group managed the installation. He explained that it was important that the installation was perfect the first time to avoid making difficult adjustments after the installation was complete.
“The angles were spot on—after the installation process took place and testing began there was no need for any adjustments with the hang points. It was a challenging project, as there were no cranes allowed on-site after the installation of the soccer pitch, so the very detailed plans we got from HARMAN helped a great deal."
"It was an exciting experience to support such a complicated project,” said Chen Nevo, KZPRO. “The support we got from HARMAN was very productive and helpful."
Danish Football Union Selects Xeebra for VAR
EVS’ video assistant referee (VAR) solution Xeebra has been chosen by NEP Denmark to provide exclusive VAR capabilities to the Danish League for its top football tier the 3F Superliga. Built on EVS’ industry-standard replay technology, the system has been deployed since the start of the season and will be used in all matches throughout the 2020/2021season.
The deployment is being managed locally by NEP Denmark, a longtime EVS partner that has extensive experience in producing live coverage of Danish football. For this project, NEP is deploying custom-built VAR vans, each equipped with a Xeebra. Each multi-camera review system from EVS supports up to 16 cameras, including Super Motion cameras, and all camera angles can be accessed instantly during a match. This setup enables the VAR, assistant VAR, and replay operator – who are all stationed on-site– to accurately assist the on-field official in their decisions.
With Xeebra, they can easily review any match action and select the most relevant camera angles, with simple touch-and-pinch gestures letting them zoom in and analyze every angle in detail. The solution provides officials with everything they need to make the right call, meaning reviews can be completed quickly, efficiently and in complete synchronization.
As part of the Xeebra deployment, EVS is also supplying its AI-driven virtual offside line, which is certified by FIFA, to automatically calibrate the field of play and produce a virtual offside line in real-time. Using this functionality, the 3F Superliga VAR operators can swiftly add an offside line, enabling them to review player positions with the assurance that they are getting the highest levels of precision. The EVS virtual offside line does not require any complex or time-consuming configuration prior to the match and does not require an extra operator. As a result, the Xeebra replay operator has easy access to all the tools needed to assist the VAR quickly and efficiently.
Since the selection of Xeebra as the official VAR system, both the Danish League and NEP have organized extensive trainings in accordance with the IFAB/FIFA protocol for the 3F Superliga officials and replay operators. A combination of theoretical training, simulator training, and practical training using the Xeebra system was used.
“The intuitive nature of Xeebra enables replay operators to be onboarded very quickly, while its user-friendly design means it can be used by less experienced operators compared to other VAR systems,” said François Gillet, Solutions Specialist at EVS.
Henrik Borup Sørensen, Managing Director at NEP Denmark added: “The collaboration with EVS has been very helpful, as its team pro-actively steps in when needed. And the Xeebra system is quick to deploy and easy to manage due to its user-friendly interface, not to mention that the system is stable such as other EVS solutions.
Claus Thomsen, CEO of the Danish League, concluded: “VAR is a game-changing technology and implementing it efficiently requires a certain investment. EVS’ Xeebra stands out in the market with its FIFA-certified AI-driven offside line technology and intuitive controls that are easy to use and don’t compromise on quality. The extensive support and partnership from EVS and NEP in installing the solution for the 3F Superliga has also been excellent and we look forward to seeing how the season ahead will unfold.”
Barça TV and Real Madrid TV Broadcast Real-Time Video Content with AVIWEST Mobile Transmitters
AVIWEST, a global provider of video contribution systems, has announced that Barça TV and Real Madrid TV, two world-famous television sport channels, are relying on the AVIWEST PRO3 Series bonded cellular transmitters and the StreamHub transceiver to broadcast live football training sessions and related content.
AVIWEST’s PRO3 Series and StreamHub solutions were supplied by NRD Multimedia, the company’s master distributor in Spain. Robust and portable, the PRO3 field units enable Barça TV and Real Madrid TV to offer fans exclusive and appealing content, including live pre- and post-match coverage, real-time interviews, and locker room discussions.
“Providing high added value live content is key to keeping audience tuned in," said Albert Reverter, general manager of NRD Multimedia. "By having lightweight and compact equipment, TV channels can move freely and be at the heart of the action, never losing out on any important situation. The AVIWEST solution is the perfect tool, offering security, affordability, and broadcast-grade live streaming, even in congested network environments such as stadiums.”
Offering a camera-mount or backpack solution, the PRO380 synchronously backhauls multiple live feeds with perfect genlock and lip sync for multicamera, remote, and at-home productions. With up to 12 network connections, including eight 3G/4G internal modems with patented high-efficiency custom antenna arrays, the PRO3 Series makes it easy for sport journalists to conduct live interviews and reports with flawless HEVC-Advanced encoding.
Leveraging AVIWEST’s double Emmy® Award-winning SST protocol, the transmitter series ensures reliable delivery of live video by simultaneously aggregating multiple network connections.
“AVIWEST is extremely proud to be counted among the technology partners of such outstanding and world-class sports teams,” said David Jaouen, Vice President of Sales, EMEA – Americas, “The robustness and compact nature of our product made the critical difference in the decision to deploy our solutions, while the strong relationship we have with our partner NRD Multimedia means customers receive a level of professional service that meets all of their requirements.”
AVIWEST’s StreamHub receives and decodes all incoming live video feeds sent by Barça TV and Real Madrid TV cameramen in the field. Supporting multiple output formats and featuring an intuitive web user interface, StreamHub allows video content to be freely and easily distributed over virtually any IP network to any social media platforms, CDNs, media servers, and streaming platforms.
Big Picture Deploys Brompton Technology’s SX40 for World’s First Live to Air xR Broadcast
Known as one of the most prestigious sports events on the National Rugby League calendar, the Dally M Awards gives kudos to the top players from the premiership season in an annual awards ceremony. Whilst there was no red carpet and certainly no shimmering frocks in sight this year, the magical night of the Dally M Awards amazed its viewers by transforming into a live to air broadcast xR production, brought to life by Big Picture and held at the Fox Sports studios in Sydney. Brompton Technology’s 4K Tessera SX40 LED processor was a crucial element in the multi camera xR workflow, offering reliable timing and consistency of image at this high-profile event.
“Big Picture has a long-standing relationship with Fox Sports, providing LED and other services to its studio and broadcast projects,” said Josh Moffat, Business Development at Big Picture. “When their team approached us about the Dally M Awards, we were both thrilled and honoured by the opportunity to get involved. We also quickly realised that this would be a perfect platform to use our knowledge of ground-breaking Extended Reality (xR) technology and bring it to the next level by producing live to air broadcast xR production, which has never been done before.”
The timing of the event could not have been more challenging. This was one of the busiest times of the year for Australian sports, with various sporting fields having their competition finals, so the Fox Sports studio was fully booked with broadcasts throughout the week preceding the awards show. “This meant we had to prepare for this a little differently,” says Nathan Barnier, Senior Technician & Content Specialist at Big Picture.
The team ensured that all the main components of the system were set up and ‘tuned’, including Panasonic cameras, stYpe kits, Brompton Tessera LED processors, tally integrations and disguise media servers, all working in harmony.
“We loaded the full system in a few days prior and were able to secure a small corner of the studio to build a full height strip of ROE Black Onyx LED video wall,” continued Barnier. “This allowed us to not only get ahead of the system integration with Fox Sports, but gave us time to nail our disguise xR timings, point our three cameras at the strip and get all our timings locked down - with xR the frame accuracy is the first step to getting the project to run seamlessly.”
The final system comprised a 12m x 3m ROE Black Onyx 2.8mm LED wall integrated into the disguise xR workflow. Disguise’s xR multi-camera registration workflow proved to be invaluable to the team by allowing effective switching between camera perspectives and the screen content. For LED processing, the team used two Brompton 4K Tessera SX40 LED processors and four Tessera XD 10G data distribution units.
“We chose Brompton processing for a number of reasons,” explains Barnier. “Its genlock functionality was particularly important for accurate timing and seamless switching between cameras. Additionally, the OSCA (On-Screen Colour Adjustment) and ChromaTune features helped us change the colour balance and individual values. We set the white levels for the lighting and LED all to be the same white point, as once the lighting levels were set in the camera system they were not adjusted as it affects the xR environment.”
Both Moffat and Barnier agree that in multi-camera xR workflow having a reliable LED processor is key. “Tessera processor capability is something we stand by and rely on for most of our projects, and this is vitally important when it comes to live broadcasts, and even more so with xR,” adds Barnier.
With only 48 hours to prepare everything onsite from the last shoot to going on air, and with two days for overnight testing and additional configuration, all the elements had to be matched perfectly in order to achieve a seamless xR workflow.
“Having the right equipment to support our projects is imperative to us,” said Barnier. “The Dally M event was a live broadcast, so there was no room for error. The combination of Brompton’s unfailing LED processing power and disguise understudies and matrix failover options means we are always confident in the reliability our equipment offers. By being able to worry less about the potential failure, we can fully focus on delivering the best show for our client.”
The feedback has been extremely positive, with the Big Picture team praised for going above and beyond to set up the system in what seemed an impossibly short time frame.
“We have always made it a point to only use the products we can trust and that are reliable for any live to air event,” concluded Moffat. “This is critical in an xR environment where timing is crucial and Brompton’s Tessera SX40 is a vital piece in our xR and VP (Virtual Production) workflows.”
2020 NBA Bubble
It’s been a turbulent, challenging year within the world of sports, with every major league disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, when faced with difficulties on a scale like no other, the industry has gone to extraordinary lengths to adapt and bring sport back for fans in any way possible. The approach taken by the NBA is the perfect example of planning, ingenuity and determination, resulting in the impressive 2020 NBA Bubble. In a bid to protect the players, staff and crew from the pandemic during the final eight games of the 2019-2020 season, as well as the 2020 NBA playoffs and finals, an isolation zone – or ‘bubble’ – was created at Walt Disney World in Florida, Orlando. There were 22 NBA teams invited to participate – all staying at Disney World hotels - with all games being held behind closed doors at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex. The project was a $190m investment approved by the NBA in June following the suspension of the season in March.
https://issuu.com/mondiale/docs/mdst15_digitallr/42
Host City 2020 Announces More Speakers
The quality and quantity of speakers at Host City 2020 has reached even greater heights in the days leading up to the world’s largest meeting of sports, business and cultural events.
Host City 2020 takes place online on 8-9 December, hosted from Scotland and Glasgow with supporting partners EventScotland and Glasgow Life. Attendance is free.
New speakers addressing the conference theme The Big Restart: Recovery with a Purpose for the Digital Age include H.E. Reem Al Hashimy, Director General, Expo 2020 Dubai, who also bring Mandy Keegan, Director Media Operations.
Saoud Al Ansari, Precinct Director of Al Thumama Stadium, Competition Venues, Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy will give an update on the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup preparations.
Other VIP speakers joining Host City in recent weeks include Fiona Hyslop, Scottish Government Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Fair Work and Culture, and Baroness Grey-Thompson DBE, DL, Independent Crossbench Peer, The House of Lords.
International federations continue to join Host City, with Kate Caithness CBE, President, World Curling; Christian Hirschmüller, Head of Technical Services & Overlay, UEFA Events; David Leather, CEO, CGF Partnerships and Jidong Wang, Project Coordinator, ASOIF joining, and David Grevemberg CBE, CEO, Commonwealth Games Federation stepping in to chair the discussion on BLM.
Global Esports Federation – a Host City Strategic Partner – bring expertise from their Chief Operating Officer Paul J. Foster and Chester King, Vice President & Chair, Education, Culture and Wellness Commission.
Generation Z takes to the stage for the first time at Host City 2020, with Formula E’s Open Talent Call Finalists Tati Baker, Derin Adetosoye, Aiden Vincent and Alexa Rendell telling us how to make events appeal to them.
Birmingham 2022 and Paris 2024 bolster their top-level delegations with Joe Ryan, Head of Health and Safety and Olivier Debargue, Director of Procurement respectively.
The Krakow 2023 Games is represented by Monika Stepniak, Director of the Office for Coordination of the 3rd European Games, Ministry of State Assets. Janusz Koziol, Plenipotentiary of the Mayor of the City of Krakow will also speak in an invitation-only Knowledge Transfer workshop.
Coventry City of Culture 2021 is well represented by Chenine Bhathena, Creative Director and Jacob Gough, Production Director. They are joined by Festival UK* 2022 Programme Director Sam Hunt.
Major music festivals are well represented by Geoff Ellis, CEO, DF Concerts and Stephen Davis, Managing Director and Founder, SDD Concerts.
Angela Adams Suggs, President & CEO, Florida Sports Foundation is joined by Jose Sotolongo, Director of Sports & Entertainment Tourism, Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau and Jason Siegel, President & CEO of Greater Orlando Sports Commission.
Other new speakers from the Americas include Jimena Saldaña, Vice President, Mexican Olympic Committee and Mike Libber, Baltimore-Maryland 2026 FIFA World Cup bid.
Other host destinations include Marion Schoene, CEO, Olympiapark Munich – host of Munich 2023 European Championships – Angeline van den Broecke, Global Business Development and Marketing Director, Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre and Neil Brownlee, Head of Business Events, VisitScotland.
Event suppliers are represented by Daniel Cordey, Chairman, Association of Global Event Suppliers, David De Behr, Head of Sales, Aggreko Event Services and Andrew Lynch, Senior Director Operations & Strategy, Foamhand.
These fresh faces join an incredibly strong and diverse line up of speakers including the already announced Paul Bush OBE, Director of Events, VisitScotland; Bridget McConnell CBE, Chief Executive, Glasgow Life; Sir Craig Reedie GBE, IOC Member; Etienne Thobois, CEO, Paris 2024; Roxana Mărăcineanu, Minister of Sports, France; Ian Reid, CEO, Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games; Brian Lewis, President, Trinidad & Tobago Olympic Committee; Tim Briercliffe, Secretary General, AIPH; Sir Russell Coutts, SailGP; World Athletics CEO Jon Ridgeon; Michael D'hulst, CEO, Super League Triathlon and many more.
Get your free pass today here.
Wembley Park Undergoes Digital Upgrade with Eclipse Digital Media and Absen LED
Situated in North-West London, Wembley Park is currently underwent an extensive developmental operation designed to expand its reputation as a world-leading sporting and music event destination and transform it into one of the most vibrant communities in the UK. The 85-acre site neighbours the second largest sporting stadium in Europe, Wembley Stadium, and includes The SSE Arena, Wembley, 70 high street outlets, 8,400 new homes, and a 2,000-seat theatre.
Quintain Ltd., the property development and investment company behind Wembley Park’s redevelopment, chose Eclipse Digital Media for a variety of work as part of the digital transformation. The work commissioned included the LED digital signage renovation of the Bobby Moore Bridge, Olympic Way, and White Horse Square, plus a variety of digital signage for the Pink Car Park.
In total, Eclipse Digital Media implemented over 150m² of Absen XD6 LED screens as part of the vast digital upgrade. With such a modern digital deployment, the LED screens have proved to be the perfect medium to attract attention in the last few months, not only for advertising or for managing the flow of persons, but also to raise awareness and understanding when the screens were used to pay tribute to the NHS staff and all front-line workers.
Opened in 1993, the Bobby Moore Bridge was named after football legend Bobby Moore, and has been an iconic pedestrian entrance into Wembley Stadium, and Wembley Park, ever since. Walked by millions each year, it was designated a major area for redevelopment. The bridge has been upgraded from a piece of civil engineering to a modern digital experience which marks the beginning, or end, of a trip to Wembley.
Leading the transformation is London-based The Light Lab, responsible for the management, installation, and fabrication of the new digital makeover. Initial concept designs were created by architect Dixon Jones, with Speirs + Major designing the lighting for the underpass.
Working with The Light Lab and Dixon Jones, Eclipse Digital Media designed the LED signage, software, and installation for the two sides. Absen’s XD6 LED screens were chosen by Eclipse Digital Media for this purpose.
“We chose Absen’s XD6 due to its design, resolution and support offered,” said Drew Harding, sales and marketing manager for Eclipse Digital Media. “In being created for outdoor installations, the Absen screen provides a great visual impact and is easily maintained, which are both critical factors for installations like this.”
100m² of Absen’s XD6 was used at the southern and northern ends of the underpass, welcoming pedestrians with a stunning LED fixture worthy of being a major pathway to Wembley stadium. The ceiling of the underpass, with The Light Lab’s embedded diagonal LEDs, is kept well-lit at all hours, for the late-night exits from the stadium. The walls now boast individually controlled multi-LED pixels, behind laminated, toughened glass, in order to provide a level of safety for those leaving after an event in or around the stadium. And, in order to preserve its history, a portion of the original mural has been saved, framed, and illuminated on the east side of the underpass.
The whole LED installation had to be completed within two weeks; a challenge that the teams rose to meet. “We met this deadline thanks to the hard work and collaboration of the teams involved,” commented Harding. “We wanted to do this monumental bridge justice, and you could see on the faces of every member of our team that they were ready to make it happen – it’s a feat that we were all successful in.”
Absen’s LED screens, due to their prominent position, perform as a revenue stream for advertisers, present messages to the local community, and showcase local artistic works for the millions passing under the bridge each year.
Olympic Way, more commonly known as Wembley Way, is the road running from Wembley Park underground station to Wembley Stadium itself. Every year, Olympic Way is walked by millions of excited spectators heading to Wembley Stadium, and required a digital upgrade to enliven the route.
Quintain chose Eclipse Digital Media for the digitalisation of this area, which came to the installation of several 5.6m-tall displays to give directional information and key messages to the general public. These displays were also placed at White Horse Square, which provides a pathway to visitors from Wembley Stadium train station to Wembley Park.
The totem structures – designed and installed by UK-based signage and brand graphic supplier, astley signs – harbour 16m² of Absen LED XD6, which wraps around the concrete plinths, covering almost half of each plinth in digital screens.
The content on the screens is controlled using multi-platform digital signage software embed signage, which also adjusts the brightness levels depending on the time of day.
The ability to sync the screens gives Wembley Park the option to create digital experiences combining all three digital displays in this area; a feature that was used for the NHS commendation.
With a capacity of 16,500, this busy, award-winning bright pink car park required digital signage that could communicate to the drivers the parking regulations and ever-changing event information. For this role, Eclipse Digital Media chose a mix of Absen’s XD6 and a number of IP65 high bright outdoor LCD displays.
10m² of Absen’s LED XD6 displays are located inside of the lower level staircase, in order to provide unmissable communication for directional messages for events, crowd management and advertising opportunities.
“Absen LED was chosen for this area as it offered the robustness, size and resolution required for the environment, which is something we could only find in Absen’s products,” explained Harding.
“The Wembley Park project is a great example of how LED can be used to provide a digital upgrade to modernise old architecture,” said head of brand and marketing at Absen Europe, Alex Couzins. “We look forward to the future developments of Wembley Park with Eclipse Digital Media.”
Ultimately, the entire project was a huge success, and has modernised Wembley Park’s most iconic routes and structures. The digitalisation of these areas has not only developed them but has also solidified that an experience at Wembley Park begins far before the entrance to the stadiums. Further digitalisation is planned for 2021.
Just Football Partners with Singa Cup
Singa Cup is an international youth football tournament in Singapore running since 2011 and has hosted thousands of players from all over the world. This year due to the Covid 19 pandemic the physical cup was cancelled so we teamed on a digital solution creating football challenges with Singa Cup ambassadors.
We collaborated with legendary professional goalkeeper Hassan Sunny, once voted as the top 20 keepers in the world, to create our first-ever goalkeeper challenges. Talented freestyle footballer Valerie created 3 awesome freestyle challenges to test players’ skills. The challenges can be played from home or at a pitch with some great prizes to be won for the top players. All you need to participate is a ball and our app.
In the app, players are taught how to play challenges by video tutorials from the Singa Cup ambassadors. Players record themselves completing the challenges then share their efforts in the app. The challenges run for 2 weeks and each has its own leaderboard with the top videos winning prizes from the Singa Cup.
100’s of youth cups around the world were cancelled this year but Singa Cup decided to reinvent themselves and have created a hybrid 5-day event programme. The digital event consists of competitive eSports tournaments, football competitions, panel discussions with professional footballers, and industry experts as well as our Just Football Singa Cup Challenges.
Our goal for the collaboration is to provide a digital solution to players who couldn’t attend the cup, inspire players all over the world to still play football during this challenging time, and grow Singa Cups’ audience.
You can try Singa Cup custom challenges in Just Football App and find out more about Singa cup 2020 here.