Atrium Sports is based in Belgium and will power the FIBA Connected Stadium live streaming and production as a way for National Federations and Leagues to enter into the digital future of basketball. The Sports Techie community blog chatted with Atrium Sports CEO, Ben Turner, about this sports tech announcement made from Mies, Switzerland. He was attending the XXI FIBA Congress wrapping up today in Beijing, China and will be there tomorrow at the start of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 where FIBA Media will showcase augmented reality, referee-audio, and the broadcast SuperFeed to fans worldwide via TV, streaming and social media. Turner said the world governing body has granted access to Keemotion OTT services and EVO, their cloud-based graphics and commentary overlay solution, to 213 National Basketball Federations as a cutting edge but affordable way to live stream games with high quality video while automating the process of capturing, producing and distributing content in real-time with solutions designed with artificial intelligence and machine learning to enhance the fan experience. What used to take multiple cameras, lots of manpower, and loads of production efforts, distribution time and money, is now completed automated and uses AI enhanced live video thanks to the FIBA and Atrium Sports business partnership benefiting the independent association membership and their basketball fans all over the world.
FIBA Secretary General Andreas Zagklis said, “We are very pleased to be entering into this partnership with Atrium Sports. FIBA Connected Stadiums will offer our members access to the technology and expertise to automatically capture and live stream games. This partnership will help us plan, develop and promote basketball into the next decade and guide our National Federations through an increasingly complex technology landscape. The benefits will surely be felt throughout the sport.”
EVO Graphics WNBL 1 Final 90 Sec Highlights – Geelong vs Bendigo
Connected Stadium
FIBA is working with Atrium Sports on Connect Stadium to upgrade video production and distribution processes through advanced technologies, multiple-platforms and expert advice as a means to lift up the sport globally through high-quality content and innovation such as solutions, systems and products made to improve coverage, increase viewership and monetize assets for NGB Federation and League events, worldwide.
Nick Maywald, Atrium Sports Executive Chairman commented, “FIBA’s history of innovation and embracing new technologies is the envy of many sports. The FIBA Connected Stadium is a game-changing initiative and we are honored to be trusted as FIBA’s partner.”
No better place to launch this offering than China where according to the Chinese Basketball Association; 300 million citizens play the sport thanks in large part to the NBA and their grassroots efforts over the past several decades to export the game with the consent of government officials.
Turner said, “Basketball is one of the fastest growing sports globally, thanks to FIBA leading the way in embracing new technology. The FIBA Connected Stadium will enable National Federations and Leagues to access the highest quality technology empowering them to grow the sport locally as FIBA has globally.”
He shared that 60 African delegates were attending FIBA Congress 2019 which shows their commitment to the growing the game. As the game further develops in Asia, South America and around the continents, different infrastructure needs will be services by Connected Stadium.
Even in America, outside of the power 5 college basketball conferences, many Division I conferences, leagues and teams, as well as at the DII, DIII and NAIA levels are looking to automate their production processes to capture, distribute, and monetize or commercialize their own digital content rights.
Every league, coaching program and player development programs have different technology needs based on their maturity levels according to Turner. He further explained how federations may want to distribute games or highlights to the likes of ESPN, Twitter or YouTube. Some production houses use a single camera, volunteers to run the show and manually produce the game. Their focus is to become the next tier of OTT and for Atrium Sports to be the preferred way to capture and distribute automated presentations in an affordable way through the Connect Stadium service.
Turner says they bundle production as a stack. The Keemotion capture system automates production using a team’s data feed. Then users can add in multiple camera angles to get to the next level. Adding in improved audio quality and more graphics through EVO, all automatically, is the entire stack. With Connected Stadium, they can offer any part of the stack, at the right place and time, as needed per FIBA member.
Atrium Sports
Sports performance both on and off the court is where Atrium Sports connects clients through sports tech. They joined together with KeeMotion in 2019 to expand upon their stack of market-leading automated video production technologies with solutions such as the new EVO solution to enhance live streaming.
Ben said, “KeeMotion pioneered automated production in the space of coaching, referee review and production.”
Elysian Park Ventures is a sports and entertainment private investment company in the United States and they injected new capital as a means to rebrand with a wider group, bring in more executives and deliver tech solutions aimed to transform businesses processes for sporting organizations, including, federations, leagues and clubs, teams, players, coaches and officials, and broadcasters.
Sports Techie, the Basketball World Cup is going to be an amazing fan experience with all the incredible sports tech. Included will be 20 cameras during preliminary matches and 25 cameras from the Quarterfinals on, a mic’ed up lead referee, the continuous live SuperFeed, and a live feed for the Final games in Beijing with 3D graphics produced by augmented reality technology.
Fans can watch the tournament thanks to the 60 media broadcasters delivering coverage to 160 countries. FIBA’s Livebasketball.tv platform also offers subscription-based options. Follow along on at FIBA Basketball World Cup social channels on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube channels while in China on Weibo and WeChat.
FIBA is setting the production standard high at the World Cup. Atrium Sports is setting the new standards for live streaming and production for all members.
“I’m exciting to be working with FIBA on this initiative; I’ve worked with FIBA on different initiatives, worked on changing the game and change the sport. Connected Stadium can take the game to another level, basketball is most technically advance sport on planet, a next generation fan sport, we can replicate that on another level,” said Turner.
Live sports is forever changed for hoops fans that watch FIBA games thanks to Atrium Sports.
See you later sportstechie in Seattle, Atlanta and around the world!
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