Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Endless AR Possibilities: BT Sport's Match Day Experience Technical Partners Talk New Realities

25/11/2020

Endless AR possibilities: BT Sport's Match Day Experience technical partners talk new realities By Heather McLean, Editor

Monday, November 23, 2020 - 12:41

Print This Story

Here Match Day Experience on the BT Sport App is shown in Stadium Experience

BT Sport and mobile operator EE recently announced Match Day Experience, a set of new features for the BT Sport app.

Match Day Experience brings augmented reality (AR) elements and 360-degree video to live and non-live coverage of Premier League matches for EE 5G subscribers using the new iPhone 12.

SVG Europe caught up with Jamie Hindhaugh, chief operating officer at BT Sport, along with three of its technical partners behind some of the new features - Stats Perform, Second Spectrum and Visualise - to get more detail on how the features were created and where AR is going to take viewers in 2021.

Teamwork makes the dream work

Hindhaugh comments on how BT Sport has created the new functionality: What I'm really proud of is the whole of BT Sport is taking people to the heart of the game and being editorially relevant, not gimmicky. The strength of being in sports is the community we build; it's about strategic partners.

He goes on: I think it's the combination of the products [in Match Day Experience] and really identifying from an editorially relevant point of view what football fans want, or what they can't get in the current climate, that works here. But what we've also done is everything we've built is looking forward to the full 5G roll out and enabling fans to still engage with all of these editorially relevant products, no matter where they are. This is the start of, I think, an incredible journey for all of the teams combined to really transform the experience around watching live sport.

On some of the companies involved in Match Day Experience, Paul Hunt is European executive director and European lead for football at Second Spectrum. In conjunction with the BT Sport team, Second Spectrum provides the video streams augmented with stats and graphics in Manager Mode for the BT Sport app.

Ross Tanner, Stats Perform account lead for BT Sport, helped provide the data-rich services across Opta to create visualisations for Match Day Experience; it provides data that powers the formations and attacking areas in Match Day Live's AR features.

Meanwhile, Henry Stuart, CEO and co-founder of Visualise, an AR and virtual reality (VR) production agency, has taken the stats from Stats Perform and visualised them throughout the app, such as, a stadium that you can place in your living room with all this live data , according to Stewart. Visualise also created the app's Stadium Experience, which enables the user to walk through an AR doorway as a portal into immersive content.

Other partners for the app are Sceenic, which supports the Watch Together functionality, Tiledmedia which supports the 360 functionality, and last but not least, Deltatre that integrates the Tiledmedia service into the BT Sport App enhanced player.

BT Sport's new App functionality, Match Day Experience, here shown in Manger Mode

Endless possibilities for AR

As to how the combined technologies within Match Day Experience will help BT Sport's viewers during the pandemic by allowing them to engage with sport that they are unable to attend in person, Hindhaugh says: We're taking people to the game, we're giving them match day experiences they can't currently get, and we are enabling them to socially come together. For me it's about the experience.

It's about addressing the fact that in this current pandemic, a lot of us are on our own watching a game where usually we're either at the game or we're with mates watching the game in the pub or what have you, Hindhaugh goes on. So I think [the different aspects of Match Day Experience] complement each other tremendously.

Stuart agrees: The way we see it, this is just the foundation that allows us to build these first steps. You'll see more and more impressive graphics and animations coming onto TV, either tracked onto pitches or in studios.

Stuart notes that the possibilities are endless; through AR you can have, a life size recreation of a player who stands there and you can have your photo taken next them to in your living room . He adds: Once the assets can be placed there, the possibilities are actually limitless. I think that's what's so exciting. And also the fact that BT Sport already produces so much live 360 content, as well as the prerecorded stuff that we're currently using through the portal.

You'll soon be able to just be watching the TV [at home] then put an [AR] portal down and walk through to a live view, which is on the side of the pitch, you know, and then stand there and look around with your phone. It's just an incredible way of watching the sport.

Hunt says this is all pointing to a much more personalised experience: I think that [this is about] making it more of a personalised experience. So rather being fed what's been shown for the past 20 or 30 years on television, this is a new angle. It's bringing new features and new excitement to it.

He adds: We're all different. We all want something different. We all want to see things at a different cadence. So I think this gives us now the opportunity to start looking at rather than just watching the full 90 minutes [even though] football is engaging let's face it, it's been around for 400 years it's about delivering that next level, now. I think what we're seeing here now will become very much part of the standard of future broadcasting.

Hunt notes that the different functionalities of Match Day Experience also enable BT Sport to serve existing customers in new ways as well as attract and engage new or le
LINK: https://www.svgeurope.org/blog/headlines/endless-ar-possibilities-bt-s...
See more stories from svg

North America Stories

27/03/2026

GatesAir Expands AirWatch365 Managed Service

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

27/03/2026

Dejero, Eutelsat, Others to Offer 'Field to Air' Demo at NAB Show

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

27/03/2026

Global NextGen TV Takes Center Stage at 2026 NAB Show

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

27/03/2026

USSI Global Opens Media Transport Solutions Lab

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

27/03/2026

Net Insight Elevates Nimbra Edge to Govern Live Media Sys...

At NAB Show 2026, Net Insight will showcase the next evolution of Nimbra Edge, its orchestration and control layer designed to manage live media services across...

27/03/2026

Harmonic Delivers Winning Live Sports Streaming Innovatio...

Harmonic (NASDAQ: HLIT) today announced powerful new innovations that further elevate the company's sports streaming solution. The advanced capabilities enh...

27/03/2026

Bitmovin s Player Web X Expands with Performance First Ad...

Bitmovin, the leading provider of video streaming solutions, today announced significant new capabilities for Player Web X, its next-generation web video player...

27/03/2026

CS live Builds Future Ready OB Van With Riedel MediorNet...

Riedel Communications today announced that Czech-based production company CS live has equipped its newest outside broadcast (OB) van with an integrated Riedel i...

27/03/2026

MPTS 2026 Unveils First Wave of Speakers Featuring BBC Sk...

130 Industry Experts Confirmed as Show Celebrates its 10th Anniversary MPTS, the UK's largest and most influential event for the media, production and tech...

27/03/2026

Grass Valley and NVP Elevate LALIGA Broadcast Production...

Grass Valley today announced the successful completion of a major live production deployment with NVP, a leading European media company specializing in live spo...

27/03/2026

Appear Business Momentum Drives Leadership in Live Produc...

Showcases resilient solutions for satellite-to-IP migration, REMI and hybrid live production Appear ASA (Appear, OSE:APR), a global leader in live production t...

27/03/2026

Lightware MX2 delivers rock-solid 4K60 HDMI 10-bit signal...

San Francisco, California, March 2026 - Microsoft Ignite, a major annual conference hosted by Microsoft for developers, IT professionals, partners and business ...

27/03/2026

Clear-Coms EQUIP Wireless System Keeps Youth With A Missi...

Clear-Com is proud to highlight its support for worship teams through professional communication solutions, with the deployment of its EQUIP wireless system a...

27/03/2026

Orban Collaborates with Sage on Virtualized EAS Technology Demo

Orban Collaborates with Sage on Virtualized EAS Technology Demo Brie Clayton March 26, 2026 0 Comments Sage Alerting Systems (SAS), in cooperation wit...

27/03/2026

Berklee Alums Bring GIANT to Broadway

Berklee Alums Bring GIANT to Broadway Brian and Dayna Lee BM '13 met and fell in love at Berklee, and now their production companys first Broadway debut i...

26/03/2026

Audio-Technica and Extron Announce Microsoft Teams-Certified Enterprise Solutions

Extron and Audio-Technica have announced that their Design Solutions devices, Ce...

26/03/2026

SPORTEL Asia Returns to Singapore with 370 Participants from 35 Countries

SPORTEL Asia took place March 24-25 at the Orchard Hotel Singapore, drawing 370 participants representing more than 220 companies from 35 countries. Approximate...

26/03/2026

NAB 2026: LTN to Showcase Satellite-to-IP Migration Solutions

LTN will demonstrate satellite-to-IP migration solutions for broadcasters, cable networks, MVPDs, and station groups at NAB Show 2026 (Booth W2100). The C-Ban...

26/03/2026

Seattle Mariners Upgrade Center Field Video Display at T-Mobile Park with Daktronics

The Seattle Mariners have partnered with Daktronics to install an upgraded outfi...

26/03/2026

Esports Nations Cup 2026 Names National Team Partners Across 100+ Countries

The Esports Foundation (EF) has awarded National Team Partner status to organizations and individuals across more than 100 countries and territories for the Esp...

26/03/2026

NAB 2026: Telestream Expands Vantage Integration with Adobe Premiere, Media Encoder, and Frame.io

Telestream has announced expanded integration between its Vantage workflow platf...

26/03/2026

NAB 2026: FOR-A Brings Nippon TV's viztrick AiDi AI Production Tool to Market with NVIDIA

FOR-A Corporation has announced a partnership with Nippon TV and NVIDIA to distr...

26/03/2026

CBS Sports Reaches New Long-Term Multiplatform Rights Agreement with the WNBA

CBS Sports and the WNBA have expanded their partnership through a new long-term, multiplatform rights agreement. CBS Sports will feature up to 20 regular-season...

26/03/2026

Zac Brown Band to Perform Sunday Night Baseball Open on NBC and Peacock

Zac Brown Band will star in the Sunday Night Baseball show open on NBC and Peacock, NBC Sports announced. The open was filmed at American Family Field, home of ...

26/03/2026

2026 MLB Season Opens With Full Slate of National Games

Major League Baseball opens the 2026 season with nationally televised games across multiple media partners. Fans can visit MLB.com/Watch for a complete schedule...

26/03/2026

DIRECTV Adds Nine MLB Team Channels for 2026 Season

DIRECTV has announced an agreement to carry nine new MLB-operated team channels, covering the Cincinnati Reds, Detroit Tigers (Detroit SportsNet), Kansas City R...

26/03/2026

Nationals.TV Now Available on Charter, Comcast, Cox, DIRECTV, Verizon Fios and More

Nationals.TV, the Washington Nationals' local broadcast channel, is now avai...

26/03/2026

MLB.TV Launches on the ESPN App Starting Opening Day

Starting Thursday, March 26, MLB.TV will be available on the ESPN App, giving fans access to more than 2,000 out-of-market regular season games. Fans can also r...

26/03/2026

Why YEP Changed My Career (And Why It Might Change Yours)

By Matt Klein Hello to everyone reading this - whether you're a current YEP, HPA member, or just YEP-curious. I'm Matt Klein, one of the co-chairs of t...

26/03/2026

CBS Sports Inks New WNBA Deal

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

26/03/2026

Apogee Insight Acquires PMA Research

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

26/03/2026

NBC Announces Exclusive Coverage of Sail4th 250 Tall Ships in NYC

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

26/03/2026

UK Group of media tech companies take the spotlight at NA...

28 participating companies, from start-ups to blue-chips, lead the UK Group as part of the GREAT Britain and Northern Ireland presence across all the Halls at N...

26/03/2026

Arkona Unveils BLADE//planner and Major Usability Enhancements at NAB 2026

Arkona Unveils BLADE//planner and Major Usability Enhancements at NAB 2026 Brie Clayton March 26, 2026 0 Comments New graphical configuration tool and...

26/03/2026

Bitfocus showcases complete control at NAB Show 2026

Bitfocus showcases complete control at NAB Show 2026 Brie Clayton March 26, 2026 0 Comments Continuing development drives advances in security, availa...

26/03/2026

Allen Media Group To Deploy Anoki ContextIQ

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

26/03/2026

LG Announces New Premium FAST Channels

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

26/03/2026

IABM to Host Breakfast Event at 2026 NAB Show

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

26/03/2026

Nexstar Defends Tegna Deal in Calif. Court Filing

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

26/03/2026

Nevion introduces powerful new Panel Builder to enhance VideoIPath broadcast control capability

Nevion introduces powerful new Panel Builder to enhance VideoIPath broadcast con...

26/03/2026

2026 Oscar Nominated Films Powered by Blackmagic Design

2026 Oscar Nominated Films Powered by Blackmagic Design Brie Clayton March 25, 2026 0 Comments DaVinci Resolve Studio used on 27 of this year's no...

26/03/2026

Leader to present full suite of advanced Test & Measurement solutions at NAB Show 2026

Leader to present full suite of advanced Test & Measurement solutions at NAB Sho...

26/03/2026

Boston Conservatory to Present New England and Collegiate Premiere of Groundbreaking Opera Time to Act

Boston Conservatory to Present New England and Collegiate Premiere of Groundbrea...

26/03/2026

Have a Wish Worth Dying For? Netflix's First Korean YA Horror Series If Wishes Could Kill' Premieres April 24

Back to All News Have a Wish Worth Dying For? Netflix's First Korean YA Hor...

26/03/2026

'The Truthers,' Starring Jose Coronado and Stphanie Magnin, Premieres on Netflix on 24 July

Back to All News The Truthers, Starring Jose Coronado and St phanie Magnin, Pre...

26/03/2026

Into the Omniverse: NVIDIA GTC Showcases Virtual Worlds Powering the Physical AI Era

Editor's note: This post is part of Into the Omniverse, a series focused on ...

26/03/2026

Game On: Five New Titles Now Streaming on GeForce NOW

That gaming backlog won't clear itself - GeForce NOW is here to help. Stream the latest titles straight from the cloud across a variety of devices. This we...

25/03/2026

In The Hot Seat: The Art of Directing a Premier League Match

Live match directors Sarah Cheadle (Sky Sports), Rob Levi (TNT Sports), and Andrew Swift (BBC Sport) sit down with the Premier League's Rachel Nightingale t...

25/03/2026

SVG Students To Watch: Kyle Maier, St. Bonaventure University

The senior from Upstate New York is manning the mic while also interning for the athletic department's sports-information team In the live-sports-video ind...