Vizrt: Graphic specialists for sports broadcast 

Liam Watson

Vizrt are reliable providers of graphics and sports analysis technology, perfect for the media industry during their broadcast. 

Vizrt – short for Visualisation in Real-Time – are a Norwegian company who have created resources to enhance the delivery of sport production. They are a worldwide market leader across the areas of real-time 3D graphics, sports analysis and asset management tools to cater for sports media among others. 

Their specialty involves creating visuals to improve the overall feel of broadcast, including interactive & virtual solutions, animations, maps, weather, story and video editing, as well as compositing, multiplatform Video on Demand (VOD) and live playout tools. 

Vizrt’s philosophy is based on creating a new vision for content creation, management and delivery with an end-to-end solution from conception to multi-format distribution. The software and services designed by Vizet, coupled with ongoing innovation, aims to push the boundaries for what is possible and opens up new opportunities to tell stories. 

If we think about how that could be of use in a sporting context, Vizet have already proven themselves as partners for sports broadcasters and clubs, who can give better insights about what happens in a match or what it means, as well as previews and reviews. 

They have all the tools in sports graphics and analysis to provide greater excitement to the coverage of any sport. Audiences are treated to data-driven augmented reality graphics, advanced analysis, automation tools and quick editing of highlights to get them to fans first. 

As part of Vizrt’s sport production, they bring all the features required to get the very best out of the experience, whether that be at home, in the stands or in the locker room.

One of Vizrt’s Extended Reality solutions is XR – regarded as the world’s most powerful 3D sports analysis tool. In collaboration with Eleven Portugal, Vizrt linked up to deliver a new fan experience to Portuguese audiences. 

Eleven Portugal is the Lisbon-based part of multinational group Eleven Sports, who have sports television channels for sporting events. 

In Portugal, Eleven Sports own the rights to UEFA Champions League, La Liga Santander, Bundesliga, Ligue 1 Uber Eats, Jupiler Pro League, English Football League Championship, Scottish Premiership, Formula 1, F2, F3, Formula E, NASCAR, Porsche Super Cup, NFL, WTA 1000, ATP 250, Liga Endesa and more. The channel slogan is ‘By the Fans. For the Fans.’ 

Eleven Sports wanted to find ways of improving their sports coverage, with Vizrt chosen to lead the way with advanced graphics and new innovations. 

Vizrt’s XR Playbook brought a very powerful 3D analysis to TV programs – presenters were able to explain complex play by play match tactics in a clear and audience-friendly way. This adds more drama and suspense in shows and helps get the most from all sports by engaging the audience with unique insights and knowledge of strategy. 

As part of the collaboration, Vizrt committed towards offering training and guidance via their training and services teams. Deployed in Lisbon, they could educate Eleven Portugal’s editorial and production teams about how to get the most out of Vizrt’s software. 

Fans became immersed with tools for tracking player speed and movement, while the broadcaster makes great use of Virtual Stadium – an augmented reality set that gives a bird’s eye view of the venue. 

It’s this use of Vizrt’s multifaceted technology that can bring heightened significance to any sporting event. 

Vizrt has even helped out Esports broadcasters with their own productions, bringing the same high-quality graphics solutions for match previews and team presentations in particular. The rise and popularity of Esports has seen Vizrt transition their expertise to these events. 

Vizrt’s impressive portfolio of clients and partners include the world’s leading broadcasters, featuring CNN, CBS, Fox, BBC, Sky, ITN, ZDF, Star TV, Network 18, TV Today, CCTV, and NHK. Vizrt’s power of work extends further to many world-class production houses and corporate institutions – such as the New York and London Stock Exchanges – who go to Vizrt’s technology. 

Adaptable to any organisation and industry, Vizrt is able to deliver a whole range of benefits. To find out more on other features, you can view them here. 

LEDiL: Producing more effective football stadium lighting

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Image credit: LEDiL website

LEDiL was first founded in 2002 by Tomi Kuntze and Hannu Hukkanen who designed LED lighting solutions for the automotive industry.

In their 22 years of existence, the company have released 15 specialist products, nine of them indoors and the other six outdoors.

The company have released a blueprint for both their ‘Sports Indoor Lighting’ and ‘Sports Outdoor Lighting’ products which cover multiple different sports and the dimensions of their usual playing ground, with a solution on how to create competitive lighting best effectively.

However focusing on football, LEDiL’s S Beam lighting systems are the solution to clubs wanting effective and compliant stadium floodlighting with the needs and requirements of the leagues they play in.

The technology is complex and has been a project that the company have worked on for a while before being first utilised by FK Mačva, the club on top of the Serbian first division.

How does S beam lighting work?

S-beam is a semi-symmetrical beam intended for stadium lighting with special shape of light distribution consisting of two cut-off zones and effective uniformity zone.

With traditional symmetrical beam lighting, it creates an oval-shaped area of light meaning that the light must be titled upwards in order to cover enough space for the clubs to reach the necessary lighting requirements.

This compromise leads to a worse viewing experience for fans at the ground, broadcasters who film the matches on worse lighting, effects the players performance during the match and increases light pollution in the nearby areas of the neighbourhood.

The lens directs the beam from the LEDs more efficiently by controlling the spill light vertically and providing more light to all areas of the ground.

Benefits of LEDiL LED system

– The use of LEDs has resulted in an energy saving of more than 55% reduction in energy costs.

– Reduced energy consumption leading to vastly reduced electrical installation costs and a faster payback.

– The calculated lifetime of the installation is up to 20 times longer than a conventional halogen solution, leading to a considerable saving in maintenance costs for clubs. This is a massive benefit with costs being a main reason why clubs stay away from starting upgrades.

– Improved lighting conditions for players (Training, ability to host night matches).

– Better viewing experience for the fans at the ground.

Optics

Optics distribute the power of LEDs efficiently, something that is especially important in larger sporting arenas and stadiums.

LEDiL utilise their optics to also reduce power consumption and the number of other components such as LEDs and further reducing the investment needed.

Optics play an essential role in ensuring lighting meets the strict league and competition requirements of different sporting codes, especially football.

Similarly to LEDs, Optics save cost and reduce time of instalment which increases efficiency.

How Australian football can use LEDiL

LEDiL currently doesn’t have a presence in Australia and their simple but effective LED and Optics system is perfect for NPL and State League clubs.

The company’s experience in urban and local areas would improve many parks and grounds that require a better lighting standard.

For a country that is rather tight on its football budget, saving money and being more sustainable is important and the values coincide with LEDiL’s business model, making it a really good fit.

Conclusion

The LED lighting future is one that mirrors the company’s vision which is to enhance wellbeing and safety with a goal for a more sustainable future and improved quality of life.

LEDiL are the future of sports stadium lighting, and the efficiency of the product will be a hot commodity in the industry.

Ticketchainer: A new look into sports ticketing management

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Image credit: IOIO IMAGES / Shutterstock.com

Ticketchainer is a Paris-based tech company that is focusing on transforming the sports ticketing industry from a simple sales tool to a comprehensive e-commerce platform that is suited to the needs of its clients.

Founded in 2019, Ticketchainer has now worked with many sports clubs and organisations across France, including Ligue 2 side AC Ajaccio, offering a product that provides:

  • A personalised purchase journey with a customised user experience and interface, integrating the best e-commerce practices with a responsive design adapted to computers, tablets and smartphones.
  • A back office for ticketing management which configures events and subscriptions, while displaying real-time tracking of ticket sales and combined offers.
  • A fixed and mobile access control management through a dedicated mobile application, personal digital assistants (PDAs) with the Ticketchainer Application Programming Interface (API), or interfacing with existing fixed access control systems.

Co-founder and CEO of Ticketchainer, Sami Bouden, explains how the idea of Ticketchainer all came about in an article with ENSTA Paris:

“Sport, and football in particular, is the events sector where ticketing is the most complex to manage: numbered seats, annual or half-season subscriptions, security, there are many parameters to take into account,” he said.

“It seemed to me to be a challenge that was both captivating and within my reach. That’s how the idea of ​​Ticketchainer was born.”

In addition, Ticketchainer decided to branch out internationally becoming the ticketing platform for the 2023 African Cup of Nations, which was a massive achievement for the tech company.

“It was a huge satisfaction for the team because we won this competition ahead of all the big names in the sector, which is a strong signal for the future,” Bouden added via the article with ENSTA Paris.

During the build-up, Ticketchainer launched their online ticketing platform that covered the six stadiums used for the tournament which had a capacity ranging from 25,000 to 60,000 seats.

In addition, they also deployed 70 box offices across the Ivory Coast to sell physical tickets utilising their technology for digital payments.

In approximately three months, Ticketchainer sold over a million tickets for the 2023 African Cup of Nations. They also had to manage more than 350,000 connections per day, selling 25,000 tickets daily for several weeks.

However, the French tech company did come across some technical challenges along the way.

“Security was of course a crucial aspect, but we had anticipated the issue very well and all attempts at fraud were foiled. We worked enormously to adapt our technology to the scale of the event and make it safe and robust. And it worked perfectly,” Bouden said in an article with ENSTA Paris.

Although still relatively new in the sports ticketing industry already working with various sporting organisations in France, Ticketchainer is looking to continue to expand in Europe after the success of the African Cup of Nations.

“Our main objective remains to consolidate our expansion on the French and European market and to become the reference solution for the most prestigious competitions,” Bouden said in an article with ENSTA Paris.

“At the same time, the success of our performance at the African Cup of Nations naturally allows us to nurture ambitions on new markets, particularly in the Gulf countries, and emerging markets where the event industry is exploding. We have just proven that we have all the assets to achieve this.”

Ticketchainer could prove beneficial to most sports clubs and organisations to help them get a better grasp on handling and organising ticket purchases.

Although it may be a while to see this type of technology implemented in Australia, if Ticketchainer’s success in the sports ticketing scene continues we may see them expand into other continents as well as other big future sporting competitions.

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