Usyk v Fury 2: How DAZN will produce a cinematic world feed and authentic' unilateral coverage from Riyadh By Will Strauss
Wednesday, December 18, 2024 - 13:11
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On Saturday night (21 December 2024), heavyweight boxers Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury will go toe-to-toe again in Riyadh with the Ukrainian fighter's WBA, WBC and WBO world titles on the line.
Global sports streamer DAZN is the host broadcaster for the much-anticipated re-match and the undercard and an appropriately ambitious production is planned, not just for the world feed but also for DAZN's own audience.
Ahead of the fight, DAZN's SVP of production and editorial Nick Turner (pictured below, far right) spoke to SVG Europe about how the pay-per-view bout (and all the theatre that will doubtless surround it) will be covered for fight fans around the world.
We don't have a playbook [for our coverage] as all fights are so different, says Turner. This can be everything from the creative look-and-feel of the event, through to the fighters involved and the promoters. However our ethos' is always to be authentic, informed, editorially strong, and entertaining. Our entire talent team will be fully onsite inside the venue, bringing full authenticity to our coverage, and allowing us to capture the atmosphere of the event.
We break the night into different sections: a technical truck to deliver the world feed, another for the DAZN broadcast and one more for any music acts. All three will be connected and constantly communicate with each other to deliver a seamless broadcast.
The coverage will be shot in 4K, supported by local facilities provider Alamiya. It will be a 23-camera set-up that includes two wirecams. Importantly the output will have a cinematic look akin to what was achieved when Anthony Joshua fought Daniel Dubois at Wembley in September.
Turner says: We are going to build on the success of AJ vs Dubois and in October's Riyadh Season fight Bivol vs Beterbiev by once again utilising a mixture of Sony HDC-F5500 and Sony HDC-3500V cameras to offer a cinematic and shallow depth of field look to the broadcast. Fuji HZK Duvo 25-1000m and Fuji HZK DUVO 14-100mm lenses will be added to the usual mix of broadcast lenses too.
With so much on the line (and we're not just talking belts here), the production team will be going to great lengths to ensure things go smoothly.
Rehearsals are key to the success of these events, and we try and rehearse the day before, explains Turner.
We rehearse everything from ring walks to music concerts and fighter and presentation coverage. For the music acts, we bring in additional people and equipment to cover these parts of the show, as they often involve performers, and dancers who have very different needs from the fighters.
We break the night into different sections: a technical truck to deliver the world feed, another for the DAZN broadcast and one more for any music acts. All three will be connected and constantly communicate with each other to deliver a seamless broadcast for the viewer. It's pretty complicated, but we have an effective way of working be this in Saudi, the UK, the USA or anywhere that Riyadh season events are being held.
Whilst it's impossible to predict a first-round knockout, we are constantly working to communicate fighter walk times to backstage teams to best manage the timings, and keep the night flowing.
With bouts on the undercard lasting anything from a couple of minutes to 12 full rounds, and floating' fights potentially dropped in at the last minute, planning the schedule is a challenge for the production and presentation team. The key is to keep things moving, says Turner.
The last thing viewers want is big gaps between the fights, he says. We work with the promotors and the fighters to ensure this is as seamless as possible. Whilst it's impossible to predict a first-round knockout, we are constantly working to communicate fighter walk times to backstage fighter teams to best manage the timings, and keep the night flowing. We also have to keep in mind any viewers [joining the coverage just ahead of] the main event. We don't go too early. We will endeavour to keep to ring-walk times. It's a constantly changing piece on the night that DAZN manage, but we hope viewers find we keep the events moving as quickly as possible.
More than just boxing Shoulder programming and pre-event content are a vital part of any PPV fight. And Usyk Fury 2 is no different.
Turner says: We take pride in delivering the most comprehensive storytelling experience for DAZN viewers and this starts before a fight is even announced. We embed ourselves in fighters' camps, to try and capture the most interesting stories so we can engage viewers in the fighters' personalities and stories themselves as well as their fighting styles.
We make long-form documentaries that allow us to fully immerse viewers in these stories, and capture short-form content at the same time. This means we serve viewers content that makes them aware of the fight on our Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat channels, and then hoping that makes them engage deeper into the DAZN app and DAZN Boxing YouTube channel to watch our longer form content.
Included is a documentary called Witnessing Greatness' which premiered in the build-up to the fight, alongside the Usyk vs. Fury 2: Face Off' show (pictured) where the fighters and their promotors sit face to face to fire verbal shots before they touch gloves in the ring.
What happens in the ring and in the arena will be bolstered by backstage access, providing viewers with insight into how the fighters are preparing for their big moment, as well as the all-important shots of celebrities arriving.
We utilise an incredible array of cameras to cover the events
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Usyk v Fury 2: How DAZN will produce a cinematic world feed and authentic' unilateral coverage from Riyadh By Will Strauss 
