Twickenham Stoop Stadium
English Gallagher Premiership rugby union club, Harlequins, have become the first UK professional sports club – and the first in rugby – to install UV-C disinfection lighting at its home ground. In collaboration with Signify, the world leader in lighting, Twickenham Stoop Stadium is now equipped for a safer future. Signify’s UV-C Partner, Powercorm has installed 11 UV-C disinfection upper air units in the Honours Bar. This area at The Stoop is normally reserved for season ticket members, but currently serves as the home team players’ dressing room. Players will be the first to benefit from the new safety measures, with members also able to enjoy a safer and more hygienic atmosphere when the venue can once again open its doors to the public.
https://issuu.com/mondiale/docs/mdst16_digitallr/52
Images: Harlequins, Signify
San Francisco 49ers Convene Committee for Return of Fans to Levis Stadium
The San Francisco 49ers have assembled an advisory committee with leading medical experts to explore the best practices and health considerations that will underpin an eventual safe re-opening of Levi’s Stadium. The committee’s ongoing expert advice will guide how the 49ers determine safety protocols and leverage the newest technologies to support effective stadium design for the fans, employees, and local community surrounding Levi’s Stadium. Members of the committee include:
· Dr. Robert “Bob” Wachter, Chair of the Department of Medicine at UCSF
· Mr. Lloyd Dean, CEO of CommonSpirit Health, parent of Dignity Health
· Dr. Monica Gandhi, Professor of Medicine and Associate Division Chief of the Division of HIV, Infectious Diseases, and Global Medicine at UCSF & San Francisco General Hospital
· Dr. Lillian Brown, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Division of HIV, Infectious Diseases, and Global Medicine at UCSF & San Francisco General Hospital at UCSF & San Francisco General Hospital
“Opening Levi’s Stadium as a mass vaccination site was just the first step in doing our part to protect our community,” said 49ers President Al Guido. “As vaccinations continue and preparations begin for the return of fans at Levi’s Stadium, we want to set the standard for safety, and this committee of esteemed medical experts will help us to do just that. With the help of this committee, we hope to make informed, equitable, and transparent choices to protect not just our fans but our employees and the local community as well. The members of this committee have spent the past 12 months on the frontlines of the COVID response and we look forward to leveraging the depth of their experience.”
The medical advisory committee will begin its work this month by looking into the public health considerations that will support the return to the stadium.
Dr. Wachter of UCSF said, “I’m happy to be working with the 49ers on this. We’ll eventually be returning to in-person events including live sports and it’s important that the way we do so is guided by science. It’s great to see Bay Area organizations like the 49ers taking the science seriously and I look forward to working with them on developing a sound plan that reinforces public health imperatives.”
Dean of CommonSpirit Health added, “The 49ers have long been a partner of Dignity Health, so I’m unsurprised at their thoughtful, conscientious approach to reopening and very happy to partner up with them again alongside leading medical experts.”
The committee will initially support the 49ers on the return of fans and employees, but the team is also committed to sharing the expert advice with other organizations in the Bay Area and beyond.
Dr. Gandhi of UCSF said, “I’m looking forward to working with the 49ers on these important issues around a safe reopening. We’ll need to make sure the return of fans not only protects the fans but is safe for everyone involved -- including the employees of Levi’s Stadium and the local community.” said.
Dr. Brown of UCSF added, “The more groups that operate under public health best practices, the better. I think the 49ers’ approach to be as open as possible with other teams interested in a safe return to their stadiums is great. Our aim is to produce important insights and determine protocols that can be used as standards for stadiums across the country.”
WWE ThunderDome
As the coronavirus pandemic and a host of government regulated safety mandates swept the nation in 2020, event planners, venue professionals and broadcasters were forced to redefine best practices for hosting live events, while ensuring the safety and wellbeing of talent and audiences in large gathering spaces. Event producers were especially challenged with finding a new medium to connect with and engage target audiences. As public safety regulations tightened in the midst of the pandemic, venues began experimenting with a wide range of solutions to overcome the unprecedented obstacles they faced. Producers quickly exhausted early audience simulation efforts with minimal success, including reduced-capacity ticketing, piping virtual crowd noise into venues, cardboard ‘spectator’ cutouts to fill vacant seats, and inserting fans into venues digitally via augmented reality. Finally, though, through a series of trial and error, the single standout solution that has revived live events, and proven more effective and authentic than any other – the ‘virtual fan experience’ – was born.
https://issuu.com/mondiale/docs/mdst16_digitallr/36
Images: The Famous Group, Screenworks
Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse
Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, a multi-purpose, public sports and entertainment venue in Cleveland, Ohio that serves as home court for the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers, recently transformed its 25-year-old infrastructure into a cutting edge facility. The transformation included over 750 digital displays from LG Business Solutions USA, and a state-of-the-art JBL sound system that ensures every attendee can see and hear the action at all times from every seat in the house and throughout the venue’s expanded gathering areas and concourses.
Heading up this project was Cleveland-based AV integration firm, Crescent Digital. Having already established a great relationship with the Cleveland Cavaliers, working with the team for almost 20 years, the company was familiar with every corner of the stadium, making it a great asset to the regeneration project. This particular project proves that cities and organisations can potentially save hundreds of millions of dollars by renovating existing sports and entertainment venues instead of building brand new ones. Digital displays and integrated audio technology can play a significant role in these projects, as they have as part of the transformation of Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
https://issuu.com/mondiale/docs/mdst16_digitallr/28
Images: LG, Crescent Digital
CEBL Partners with StreamAMG to Launch New OTT Service
The Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) and StreamAMG have signed a multi-year partnership to launch a new OTT service. The service will give basketball fans in Canada, the United States, and internationally access to live CEBL games, as well as on demand content including highlights, interviews, and features.
The first professional sports league in Canada to return after Covid-19 shut down sports nationwide, the CEBL Summer Series was viewed by millions of Canadian and international viewers in July 2020. The CEBL will build on the series’ record engagement with a new OTT service that makes it easier than ever for sports fans to enjoy live pro basketball, and provides a year-round destination for video content.
Commissioner and CEO of the CEBL Mike Morreale said of the new partnership “The CEBL is excited to partner with StreamAMG to launch this new OTT service. We see it as vital to our continued growth, and StreamAMG’s technical expertise and experience in global sports gives us everything we need to take Canadian pro basketball to new audiences at home and abroad."
To power the all-new CEBL video service, StreamAMG will provide its end-to-end OTT platform, including a customised OTT website based on their StreamPlay frontend framework. The CEBL will also benefit from CloudMatrix, the agency’s award-winning on demand content entitlement and distribution system, and employ its CloudPay platform to handle subscriptions, payment and user management.
Mark Silver, StreamAMG’s General Manager, North America added "We’re delighted to be working with the CEBL to take Canadian basketball to more fans than ever before. The League’s rapid growth and its approach to digital is impressive, and we’re excited to support its OTT ambitions in the 2021 season and beyond.”
The CEBL is planning to officially launch the new OTT platform internationally before the start of the 2021 season.
Euro Media Group and Sony partner to deliver live sports in HDR
Euro Media Group (EMG), a leading global provider of broadcast services and media solutions for live sports, entertainment and events and Sony Professional have been delivering since August 2020 seamless HDR workflow for sports broadcasting, including football.
The end-to-end HDR workflow is the culmination of a close collaboration to establish a workflow that is the most efficient possible, operating within existing infrastructures and designed primarily for Live broadcast operations.
Broadcasters have been exploring HDR live to deliver a more immersive and “real” image feel to viewers for a few years. However, unlike the transition from HD to 4K, the process of migrating from SDR to HDR is extremely complex, because of amongst other considerations, the need to convert effectively not only Frame rate but also Colour Gamut, Quantization, Resolution and Dynamic Range, and this, from image capture to transmission.
To develop a live HDR workflow that works from end-to-end and delivers on image quality, EMG and Sony worked together to create a solution based around Sony’s SR Live workflow. Integrating the Sony HDC-3500 cameras, the HDRC-4000 HDR Processor and BVM-HX310 reference monitors, the set-up uses existing SDR workflow & operational practices as a basis. The collaboration also covered a phase of training to upskill EMG’s technical staff, through remote training modules delivered from Sony’s facilities in Pinewood Studios to EMG’s Parisian office in the summer of 2020.
Canal+ can now deploy HDR at any sporting event within their schedule and began broadcasting live sport to HDR viewers in August 2020 and in particular their football program. EMG was commissioned by UEFA to supply the host broadcast production of the UEFA Super Cup in Budapest with their next generation UHD/HDR truck Nova 103 delivering images of the highest quality. The Nova 103 truck will be part of the large fleet of UDH/HDR trucks which EMG will operate during the UEFA Euro 2021.
Gaël Tanguy, CTO at EMG France: “The brief from our client was very much about providing viewers with a new HDR experience, while keeping legacy SDR customers with the best result, through a single operation. Working with Sony and Canal+ on HDR workflows has allowed us all to think strategically rather than just concentrating on one part of the supply chain. The HDR workflow solution is now in use, is accessible to all and are operated by our technicians independently thanks to trainings from Sony.”
Francois-Charles Bideaux, co-CEO at EMG added: “A major part of our UHD fleet is now equipped with HDR and all of our new trucks are being equipped with the same quality standard by default. We thank Sony for their contribution to achieving our goals.”
Hiroshi Kajita, Head of Media Solutions at Sony Professional Europe commented: “At Sony, we always listen and work closely with our partners to provide solutions to meet their evolving needs. We are focused on unleashing the incredible power of images, drawing ever closer to the ultimate desire for the images we see on our screens to mirror what we see with the human eye. Working in partnership with Canal+ and EMG we found a unique solution and implemented an end-to-end HDR workflow that is already creating great results.”
Clearglow Sport Strengthens Management Team
Stadium display technology provider, Clearglow Sport, has strengthened its management team after appointing Daniel Gray as a director.
Dan joins Clearglow Sport as the company seeks to completely transform the stadium display technology market. The company launched in 2020 with the ambition to make high quality fan engagement and revenue generating LED solutions accessible to more sports clubs, venues, and stadia in the UK.
Daniel brings 14 years of experience working in the sports sector, most recently for ADI, where he was responsible for delivering the company’s sports marketing strategy. Dan’s previous experience includes the launch of virtual hybrid perimeter LED technology in Germany’s Bundesliga, as well as double row perimeter LED in the Premier League, and the wider deployment of digital commercial platforms across the EFL.
Joining Clearglow Sport, Dan commented, “It is really exciting to join such a forward-thinking, innovative technology provider, which has a clear mission to make high quality, revenue generating, LED platforms accessible to clubs of all sizes.”
“Stadium display technology, and perimeter LED in particular, has been part of the backdrop of elite sport for decades now – and for good reason. It is an incredibly powerful brand activation and fan engagement platform. However, for too long, it has been beyond the reach of many clubs outside of the very top sporting leagues - either because of high costs, controlled by few suppliers, or because clubs haven’t been given the tools to unlock the revenue model to commercialise it effectively.”
“We want our customers to focus on how they can maximise the return from their investment, whether considering a pitchside LED display, stadium screen or LED ribbon. Without a solid ROI model in place, supported by quality technology, the decision to install LED in the stadium has the danger of becoming an expensive vanity project.”
Explaining why now is the right time for clubs to speak to Clearglow Sport about stadium LED technology, Dan continued: “Professional sport has faced its biggest challenge in a generation over the past 12 months. Clubs have been incredibly resourceful in the way they have adapted to survive without fans in the stadium but now, more than ever, it is vitally important that clubs have the right platforms in place - not only to help them quickly rebuild but, also, to drive long-term future growth. We really believe that the right LED technology, when underpinned with sound commercial thinking, can help clubs of any size achieve financial growth.”
Dan joins Clearglow Sport as co-founders Andy Clague and Kristian Ball mount a drive to expand the company, having already strengthened their installation, operations, and technical delivery teams over the past 12 months.
Speaking of the appointment Kristian commented: “We’re delighted to welcome Dan to the company. He brings a huge amount of experience and really shares our vision to make stadium LED display technology more accessible to clubs of all sizes. We’re driving change, not only by bringing costs down, but by removing barriers to make it easier for clubs to access revenue-generating LED without the need for huge deposits.”
“We may be a relatively new name in the industry, however, the management team behind Clearglow Sport is anything but. Collectively, we have over 30 years of experience in the sport and technology sector. Whilst that experience is hugely valuable, it’s more interesting to our customers to look to the future. That’s why we really want clubs, venues and stadium owners to challenge us – to scrutinise our technology and test the principles behind the commercial models that will help them to drive sustainable revenue.”
Andy added: “Dan is a very welcome addition to the management team. The fact we’ve worked together previously means we can really hit the ground running in order to deliver solutions that will help our customers earn more from their stadium display technology. It’s really important to us that we are able to deliver value to our customers without compromising on the quality of the solution.”
“We’re supported by some of the biggest names in LED technology, including Unilumin, who are one of the world’s largest manufacturers. With the right commercial model in place, there really isn’t any reason why the same technology that will soon be installed Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium, can’t also be deployed for a League Two club or RFL stadium for example.”
Clearglow Sport has launched a range of perimeter LED systems, available in multiple heights, with or without an integrated crowd-facing display, which the company adds to its existing range of stadium LED screen solutions.
Extreme E Reveals Innovative Command Centre
Extreme E, the new electric off-road series, has revealed its innovative ‘Command Centre’ – a classic motorsport pit wall unpacked - which will play a focal role in the live race broadcasts, creating drama and atmosphere. Operating like a futuristic strategy room, this purpose built studio is where key team players will join together to watch the race unfold and make strategic decisions.
The series has partnered with live event production specialists, ADI, to deliver this cutting-edge Sports Presentation solution inside the Extreme E ‘Command Centre.’ Its technical production design will help Extreme E achieve the look and feel of a state-of-the-art broadcast studio, despite the remote environments it travels to. The solution will feature 2mm indoor LED screens and LED lighting fixtures, set around an arc-shaped desk that will host representatives from five teams during the race including drivers, team principals and engineers, who will have access to team radio, TV feed and telemetry.
Westbury Gillet, Director at Aurora Media Worldwide, explains the concept: “Think F1 pit wall unpacked but turned in on itself, and we are filming from the inside. However, each team’s principal, driver and engineer will be all together in this one room so they will be interacting.
“With the screens and lighting it will be futuristic, like a spaceship, and this will be complemented by the audio, which will be triggered at key moments. We’ve modified desks by bringing down the three monitors from the high position to a 45 degree angle along with talkback panels. There will be a LED screen wall wrapped all around, which will house different content from the race. We will also have LED and strip lights to light up the teams and the architecture of the structure, so for example, if a team is using HyperDrive in the race, that teams desk will light up purple. In addition, there will be multiple remote cameras and microphones capturing the teams reactions, which will be broadcast live to viewers at home.”
Ali Russell, Chief Marketing Office at Extreme E, said: “The ‘Command Centre’ is something completely new, and another fantastic innovation from the Extreme E team. It’s a really exciting proposition for race fans who will get to follow all the action and drama through the key players as it unfolds.
“It’s great to have ADI’s support in providing this concept as we plan and deliver this pioneering project across the most remote parts of the world. ADI brings unique qualities in technical infrastructure, Sports Presentation and operational delivery, which will create outstanding production values at the ‘Command Centre’, and our live broadcast of Extreme E.”
A dedicated ADI team will be on-hand to manage and cue all audio, 4k video and lighting play-out inside the ‘Command Centre’, utilising a single software platform to run the show. ADI’s platform brings flexibility to the play-back, capable of supporting up to 40 layers of digital media across the fine pitch LED screens, and allows changes to the studio AV to be triggered by live action that happens during the race.
Thomas Taylor, Extreme E Account Manager, at ADI added: “We’ve been able to offer Extreme E an innovative solution to its studio brief. We’re excited to be involved in this new venture that highlights the climate change challenges we face, and provide technical production concepts for broadcast that help engage global audiences.”
Extreme E’s first race is set to take place in Saudi Arabia (3-4 April), before heading to Senegal (29-30 May), Greenland (28-29 August), Brazil (23-24 October) and Patagonia (11-12 December).
INFiLED Launches EMEA Showroom in Barcelona
INFiLED has opened a new EMEA office and showroom situated in the heart of Barcelona, Spain.
This investment proves INFiLED’s commitment to the ongoing growth in the LED market to meet the varied and growing needs and expectations of industry customers. The brand-new full-renovated space of 500m² located in the heart of Barcelona serves as working space for the European Sales and Marketing team as well as a facility filled with INFiLED’s latest products for both fixed and rental installations.
In recent years, the city has been voted as best location to host Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) starting 2021 and today is one of the most important and promising World Tech Hubs.
“We’re proud and excited to present our brand-new Showroom in Barcelona where visitors will experience a unique presentation of our LED display solutions,” commented Sr. Vice President of INFiLED EMEA, Marco Bruines. “Our world is changing and same does our industry. With today’s extreme global travel limitations, it became important for us to execute and finalise this project in order to be closer to our EMEA partners and customers. If the country regulations allow it, we gladly invite customers here to show our latest technologies and discuss their projects.”
INFiLED maintains the company’s Office and Warehouse facilities in The Netherlands as well as its Sales Offices in Germany, France and UAE.
Audinate’s Dante Adds Confidence and At-Home Capabilities to Broadcasts at The University of Miami
Prior to 2020, The University of Miami redesigned its live sports production workflows to ensure all audio feeds were on the network with Audinate’s Dante. From field mics to mixers – and from basketball to soccer – the University made the choice to trust Dante for all audio-over-IP capabilities.
“We don’t have a single XLR patch anywhere in our workflow,” said Anthony Lestochi, Director of Production Services at the university. “Moving to Dante was clearly the better way to operate. It made building out our production really easy and effective. And, when COVID happened, Dante made it easy to quickly adapt.”
Audinate’s Dante is the de facto standard for digital audio networking, and distributes hundreds of uncompressed, multi-channel digital audio channels via standard Ethernet networks, with near-zero latency and perfect synchronization. Dante allows audio, control, and all other data to coexist effectively on the same network.
Dante has also proven its flexibility over the course of 2020. As productions needed to drastically alter their approach to adhere to COVID-19 safety guidelines, the ability to use Dante audio-over-IP as a connective fabric was a crucial enabler.
“When we looked to bring production back, the first thing we did was knock walls down in our control room,” Lestochi said. “We totally rearranged the space and put up new physical barriers to allow for effective social distancing in the new control room. Because it was a Dante-backed system, we could run all of our new positions for equipment onto the network and know it would work quickly. It was a very easy change, and one that wouldn’t have been so quick if we were using traditional cabling.”
The control room continues to make use of the same broadcast technology in place prior to the change in physical layout. Two Yamaha CL5 mixing consoles and a Behringer X32 mixing console provide all mix capabilities for the many Dante signals on the network.
Field and announcer microphones located on site are made Dante-native using Shure ANI4IN audio network interfaces. Multiple Studio Technologies 45DR Dante to 2-Channel Party-Line Intercom Interfaces – which are Dante native – are also used to allow two-way communication.
In total, Lestochi says there are roughly 60 Dante devices in use in the production – and on any given day, multiple productions can take place with around 100 Dante signals running seamlessly across the local network.
Of course, that’s just for the on-site capabilities. In the University of Miami’s broadcast buildout, Dante is also working from home.
Remote announcers have become increasingly common as a result of COVID-19 social distancing and travel recommendations. Lestochi said it’s a practice that many viewers likely don’t even realize is taking place.
The Miami production team’s largest events are men’s and women’s basketball in the winter season – and to produce them, Dante is heading into the home.
Glensound Inferno commentator’s boxes – which are Dante-native kits built specifically for live announcer commentary – are sent to an announcer’s home. The system then interfaces with an in-home Mac computer using Dante Virtual Soundcard and Unity Connect software – which facilitates sending a Dante signal at the highest possible quality over the public internet.
“That setup allows for bidirectional channels and two-way communication,” Lestochi said. “The talent can talk to each other as they watch the game, and the director and producer can also talk with the talent. Without that setup it would be nearly impossible for us to do this. It enables the talent to work the games from their home without much difference in the quality of the broadcast.”
The control room located on The University of Miami campus brings in the audio signal and provides mixing and audio-to-video embedding – using an Evertz Scorpion-4 Media Processing Platform – before sending the final product via a direct line to the university’s production partner.
Lestochi considered what it would require to make the same changes had the university not utilized Dante.
“It would definitely be a lot more expensive and require a lot more hardware and cabling,” he said. “And the management of the system, and some of the technical aspects to the audio signals, would be very, very tricky if we were doing this with copper. It would likely be far too complex to feasibly do.”
Lestochi said with Dante, not only were changes made rapidly and affordably, but the system allowed for considerations on how to best manage the increasingly remote nature of the work. For example: Lestochi said he can log in to a university system remotely from his house and quickly make a change on Dante Controller software to ensure the system is working effectively.
“It’s those little moments in the process where you realize how much you’ve gained with Dante,” he said. “All of it comes down to confidence. And we have a lot of that right now with our system.”