Live From 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup: Efforts Rise, Excitement Abounds for Final By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director
Saturday, July 6, 2019 - 4:31 pm
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Sunday night's FIFA Women's World Cup final between the Netherlands and the United States brings to a close a month-long showcase for some of the best athletes in the world. Ratings have been up, often impressively, compared to 2015. The quality of play and competitiveness of the matches has also improved. And for the team at FIFA TV, and their appointed host broadcaster for this event, HBS the behind-the-scenes improvements have paid off.
The two semi-finals and final have all been played at the Stade de Lyon, a 57,900-seat venue that is located in the city that is the home of women's football in France. It was a fitting location and with enough compound space for both an expanded unilateral presence from rights holders as well as the FIFA TV multilateral production at the core of the matches it became the defacto home for a number of activities the final week.
Neil Darroch, senior manager, TV operations, FIFA TV pitch side at Stade de Lyon, home of the two semi-finals and the final of the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup.
The IBC in Paris is still fully staffed but the difference this week was that Lyon became the main FIFA and LOC headquarters, says Neil Darroch, senior manager, TV operations, FIFA TV. It allows us to support the venue team with the increased attention and activates around the final matches and makes It easier for us to manage some of the things face to face.
The final week's matches have seen an uptick in the number of cameras that are being deployed. A helicopter shot, cablecam, and an external camera mounted on a 60-meter crane that is primarily used to receive transmissions from the helicopter are making a difference from above while a ultra-motion Polecam behind each goal and a super motion camera level with the six-meter line in front of each goal will make a difference around the pitch.
The TV compound outside the Stade de Lyon.
We picked a camera plan for all of the matches that ensured a high level of coverage and we found that it could fit every stadium, says Darroch of the challenge of outfitting coverage for venues that vary in seating capacity by as much as 30,000 fans. Some stadiums had better locations for certain cameras than others but they all host football or rugby matches on a regular basis, so the main camera positions were where we needed. For some we needed to kill a few seats or upgrade a platform but in general they were all the right size.
More Value to Rights Holders
(l-tor-r) Telemundo's Sammy Sadovnik, Ana Jurka, Carlota Vizmanos, and Viviana Vila are on site for the 2019 FIFA Women's Final on Sunday and have been in Lyon since the first semi-final last Tuesday.
Rights holders on site with an expanded presence include Telemundo which moved its studio production team from Paris to Lyon and is now operating in an enclosed studio with a great view over the pitch and stadium. It is also, unlike the rooftop location in Paris, climate controlled and free of weather conditions that were often challenging. German public broadcasters ARD/ZDF, England's BBC, and NOS Netherlands, and Canal+ France each stake a claim in three open-air studio locations inside the stadium.
There is a tendency towards wanting to do outside presentation studios, so we need to find locations to do large outside studio presentations that also capture the unique atmosphere of a Women's World Cup, says Darroch.
Fox co-hosts Jenny Taft and CONCACAF Head of Women's Football Karina LeBlanc were within selfie distance at the World Cup semi-finals and finals.
Fox Sports is also on site with a smaller studio presentation outside on the plaza as fans walk into the stadium. The two-camera shoot is integrated into the main studio show which is still produced out of the Trocadero-based studio in Paris.
The LOC, FIFA and HBS really worked hard to give us the shot that we had always talked about and that we were looking for, says Kevin Callahan, Fox Sports, director of World Cup technical operations. It was fantastic and when the fans are outside the stadium, that is so much a part of this sport and this event.
The Stade de Lyon location proved to be a boon prior to the U.S. vs. England match as fans from the U.S. gathered behind the set to give it an enthusiastic atmosphere that is uniquely American. And co-hosts Jenny Taft and Canadian five-time World Cup veteran and CONCACAF Head of Women's Football Karina LeBlanc were within selfie distance giving fans a digital souvenir to share with friends and family back home.
For the Final today look for the energy to be amped even higher as two rabid fan bases, the American Outlaws and the Orange fans from the Netherlands descend on the stadium wearing red, white, blue, and orange.
We always talk about how we want to be there to Get the color of the event there' and this is going to literally be color that we're talking about, says Callahan.
Other improvements for rights holders include expanded pitch side presentation opportunities as they are available behind each goal and also both sides of the touchline.
Now a rights holder can get into a position with their team warming up behind them and they can stay in their position longer, until just before teams come out, resulting in a better product, says Darroch.
Another major challenge for all rights holders is getting a chance to get interviews with players and coaches before and after matches. FIFA TV has taken steps to improve that as well as teams are asked to make a player available for a pre-match interview as opposed to just the coach.
It enriches the content as they have a different perspective from the coac
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Live From 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup: Efforts Rise, Excitement Abounds for Final By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director 
