FutureSPORT 2023: AI and sustainability top the agenda at packed SVG Europe event By George Bevir
Friday, November 24, 2023 - 11:47
Print This Story
Panasonic's Josh Milligan welcomes attendees at FutureSPORT 2023
Artificial intelligence and sustainability topped the agenda at yesterday's FutureSPORT event, with speakers from F1, the Premier League, the BBC, Sky, DAZN and more sharing their insights with the capacity crowd.
Sponsored by Panasonic Connect, some 280 people attended the event at the Oval in south London for a day of panels, presentations, networking and exhibits plus the inaugural Sports Broadcasting Achievements.
We need to be bold and push the boundaries, otherwise we won't engage those younger audiences
After networking and a tour of the famous international cricket ground, Panasonic Connect field marketing manager Josh Milligan delivered some welcome remarks before Caretta Research's Rebecca Jackson spoke about the shift to online viewing and its impact on sports production, and the growing opportunity for the distribution of niche sports.
Left to right: SVG Europe's Will Strauss, Louise Lawler, DAZN, Cliona O'Leary, Sport Ireland, Wendy Hendrickx, F1, Rachael Nightingale, Premier League, Victoria Cotton, BBC Sport.
The first panel of the day featured Wendy Hendrickx, F1, head of live production, Victoria Cotton, BBC Sport, executive producer, live streaming, Louise Lawler, DAZN, VP of production and editorial operations, Cliona O'Leary, Sport Ireland, director of corporate affairs, communications and marketing and Rachael Nightingale, Premier League, head of media operations and innovation who were tasked with identifying - and solving sports broadcasting's future challenges.
Having shared some insights into the Premier League's recent gamification' trials, Nightingale sounded a note of caution: We don't have Game Mode as the main feed, because we know it will alienate traditional viewers. We need to be careful about how we change our products. But, at the same time, we need to be bold and push the boundaries, otherwise we won't engage those younger audiences.
Lawler then spoke about the role of influencers in helping to attract new - and often younger - viewers to boxing.
The reach of social media influencers is insane, she said. And there isn't a sport in the world that wouldn't want to embrace that they are proper fights, and from a commercial perspective I cant's stress how successful this has been. It's been really positive to embrace these fans who might not otherwise be fans. They're now engaging with the sport, and it's bringing entertainment into the ring.
MRMC was technology partner for FutureSPORT 2023, providing robotic cameras and a slider to capture video of the event.
Up next was a case study from Tata on the subject of embracing the future of media, with Carolina Santos, ATP Media, head of broadcast operations and engineering in conversation with Brijesh Yadav, Tata Communications, global head of media business: sales, business development and innovations.
After more networking and lunch, former BT Sport Mobile & Immersive Director Matt Stagg took to the stage to explain the latest developments with generative AI.
He provided delegate with three takeaways: that generative AI will allow production teams to do more for less, particularly in the area of monetisation. Also, that AI tools will help the ongoing democratisation of production, allowing lower tier and grassroots sports to capture and share their content. And finally, that generative AI doesn't moan, so is a perfect tool for completing the kind of tasks that can be considered a burden, thus freeing up time for creatives and those in editorial to be more creative.
Networking at FutureSPORT 2023
The focus on AI continued with a thought leader perspectives panel on the subject of AI for Good', with Ross Munro, WSC Sports, head of commercial UK & Ireland, Alireza Shahrestani, Sponix Tech, marketing director, Imogen Kimberley, Newsbridge, regional sales manager, Alain Polgar, Chyron, SVP of sales, EMEA & APAC discussing why AI will be a positive force for the wider sports broadcasting and production sector.
Kimberley commented: Smart vendors recognise there is an AI bias and will work with you to address that.
Sustainability was a theme that cropped up in most discussions, and was the focus of the next panel: Green Goals: Can we build a more sustainable sports production industry?
Alex Redfern, EVS, CTO, Brian Leonard, IMG Studios, Head of Engineering, Post & Workflows, Rohan Mitchell, EMG Group, ESG Director and Steve Knee, Cloudbass, Managing Director discussed sustainability in live sports production, with a particular focus on the role played by outside broadcast companies.
Following a vigorous discussion that included a debate about the merits of the cloud and the prospects of remote production, Redfern said: As manufacturers, a stumbling block we face as an industry is that we build things for the worst case scenario and over-engineer just in case'. That's understandably driven by production, but at what point will that balance tip, because we need to reduce consumption?
Read more FutureSPORT 2023 picture gallery
There was further debate on the topic of the cloud, with the second thought leader panel of the day, on cloud TX, contribution and distribution, with Greg Burns, Arqiva, interim director of product, Jonathan Smith, NetInsight. solution area expert, Chris Fellows, Zixi, Solutions engineering manager and Sri Hari Thirunavukkarasu, Amagi, SVP sales, EMEA.
Next, attendees heard from key creatives at Sky Sports, BBC Sport and Warner Bros. Discovery Sports on the subject of presentation studios.
The discussion among Ben Wickham, Sky Sports, director of creative o
Most recent headlines
16/12/2025
Hawkins has landed on Spotify, just in time for Stranger Things Season 5, Volume...
16/12/2025
Wherever you are, your favorite music and audio content should go seamlessly with you. That's why Spotify has partnered with NAVER Corp, Korea's leading...
16/12/2025
2025 Wrapped arrived bigger and bolder than ever. This year's experience is designed to be ultra personal and shareable, with new features like Wrapped Part...
16/12/2025
Three 12-kilowatt Advanced Electric Propulsion System thrusters, supplied by L3Harris Technologies, form the core of Gateway's propulsion system. Pictured i...
16/12/2025
The challenge facing America's defense industrial base is not just about speed - its about rebuilding the foundation that makes speed possible. Our nations ...
16/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
16/12/2025
SEVILLE, Spain Canal Sur, the public broadcasting service for Andalusia, Spain, has completed a total technology refresh based on Pebble's resilient, softwa...
16/12/2025
NEW YORK Teleprompting hardware provider Telescript International has acquired all software code and intellectual property previously owned by Telescript West. ...
16/12/2025
As cable operators face increased competition from 5G fixed wireless access providers, a new report from Ookla Research finds that T-Mobile is the FWA speed lea...
16/12/2025
Apple has announced a major upgrade to the Apple TV app for device owners outside the Apple ecosystem with news that the Apple TV app for Android now supports G...
16/12/2025
Space42 grows Direct-to-Device partner ecosystem through a Memorandum of Underst...
16/12/2025
16 Dec 2025
VEON Announces Release Date for Full Year and Fourth Quarter 2025 R...
16/12/2025
16 Dec 2025
VEON's Kyivstar Invests in Renewable Energy in Ukraine with Acq...
16/12/2025
Back to All News
Emma Appleton, Fares Fares, Frida Gustavsson and Jakob Oftebro...
16/12/2025
Back to All News
Docu-reality My Korean Boyfriend Gets a Trailer and Premiere D...
16/12/2025
Harmonic's XOS Advanced Media Processor Improves Streaming Video Quality and Boosts Viewer Engagement SAN JOSE, Calif. - Dec. 16, 2025 - Harmonic (NASDAQ: ...
16/12/2025
RT Sport Awards 2025 live on RT One and RT Player at 8:05pm on Saturday 20 December.
On Saturday 20 December live on RT One and RT Player at the earlier t...
16/12/2025
Singer -songwriter Brian Kennedy has been announced as the final celebrity dance...
15/12/2025
Harlem Globetrotters Celebrate 100th Anniversary With New Brand Campaign From Th...
15/12/2025
Top L-R: La Tierra Del Valor (The Home of the Brave), Mangittatuarjuk (The Gnawe...
15/12/2025
L3Harris will leverage 15 years of experience supporting the E-4B Nightwatch and...
15/12/2025
CONWAY, Ark. In a notable example of how the loss of federal funding is forcing public stations to make massive cuts and operational changes, the statewide pub...
15/12/2025
BOULDER, Colo. Public Media Venture Group (PMVG), Venture Technologies Group (VTG), and WQED have completed a multipart agreement that they say will significant...
15/12/2025
Cape Town, November 13, 2025 - SES and International artist and humanitarian, Fo...
15/12/2025
Luxembourg, December 15, 2025 - SES, a leading space solutions company, and Abra Group launched fast and reliable multi-orbit inflight connectivity service on t...
15/12/2025
How Rivian s Design Puts Drivers First-And Why That Matters Published on Dec 15, 2025 Categories: Business Solutions
LinkedIn Corporate Communications
Sha...
15/12/2025
Space42 and Cobham Satcom completed the full range of advanced terminals for the...
15/12/2025
15 Dec 2025
VEON's Beeline Kazakhstan Delivers First Starlink Direct to Cel...
15/12/2025
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor finds himself the topic of year's cracker jokes
Oasis, David Harbour, Celebrity Traitors and Angela Rayner all feature in this y...
15/12/2025
Comscore Expands Cross-Platform Campaign Measurement to Include Audio and Social New capabilities strengthen cross-platform campaign reporting suite; CCR rebran...
15/12/2025
NVIDIA today announced it has acquired SchedMD - the leading developer of Slurm, an open-source workload management system for high-performance computing (HPC) ...
15/12/2025
RT .ie has reached one billion page views this year and is on track to finish 2025 2% ahead of last year. Average time spent on the site is up 3% on 2024, with ...
15/12/2025
Modern workflows showcase the endless possibilities of generative and agentic AI on PCs.
Of many, some examples include tuning a chatbot to handle product-supp...
13/12/2025
Powering Client Growth: Horizon Deepens Nielsen Partnership, Enabling More Effic...
13/12/2025
In a move that will help it offer more flexible and less costly programming options, YouTube TV has announced that it will be launching YouTube TV Plans with mo...
13/12/2025
SINGAPORE Magna Systems has designed, built and completed what is believed to be the first full UHD and IP-based OB truck in Southeast Asia for a Singapore medi...
12/12/2025
SVG Summit 2025 Preview: Everything You Need to Know for Next Week's Big Sho...
12/12/2025
Hailey Gates at the Atropia premiere (photo by George Pimentel / Shutterstock for Sundance Film Festival)...
12/12/2025
Last month, Spotify announced a new collaboration with the ATP Tour, the global governing body of men's professional tennis, aimed at bringing the next gene...
12/12/2025
CONWAY, Ark. In a notable example of how the elimination of Federal federal funding is forcing public stations to make massive cuts and changes in the way they...
12/12/2025
Wisycom and DPA Microphones announce the appointment of Ren Moerch as Group Product Director, Wireless, a strategic leadership role that will guide the combine...
12/12/2025
SMPTE , the home of media professionals, technologists, and engineers, in conjuncture with the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and the Entertainment Technolog...
12/12/2025
Keepit, the vendor-independent, cloud-native data protection provider, today announced a strategic go-to-market relationship in Poland with Ingram Micro, a lead...
12/12/2025
Atomos announced the immediate availability of a new firmware update for its Ninja TX GO and Ninja TX monitor-recorders, unlocking Open Gate 48P RAW recording w...
12/12/2025
Professional Wireless Systems (PWS) once again played a critical role in delivering flawless wireless coordination and support at the 2025 Latin Grammy Awards a...
12/12/2025
The Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS), together with the Video Services Forum (VSF), the Advanced Media Workflow Association (AMWA) and the European Broadc...
12/12/2025
DHD audio will demonstrate the latest additions to its range of digital audio production solutions on Booth 321 in Hall B6 at Hamburg Open 2026. The show will b...
12/12/2025
Chaos today announces the release of V-Ray for Blender, update 2, bringing its award-winning rendering technology to even more Blender users by adding support f...
12/12/2025
Lighting specialist UltraLEDs has launched Precision LED Tape, a high-CRI lighting solution designed specifically for professional film, TV, and studio use.
P...
FutureSPORT 2023: AI and sustainability top the agenda at packed SVG Europe event By George Bevir 
