Olympique Lyonnais boosts fan engagement with fancast

Olympique Lyonnais boosts fan engagement with fancast posted: 09/12/2016

Following the move to its new 60,000 seat stadium, French football club Olympique Lyonnais has installed EVS' FanCast solution and its DYVI IT-based switcher to enhance engagement with its fans

OL Images, a subsidiary of the OL Groupe that owns the club and is responsible for its media output, wanted a broadcast-quality HD infrastructure to produce programing for its in-house television channel, OLTV. In addition, it wanted to generate further return on investment by using the same infrastructure to create and deliver matchday content directly to fans' mobile devices, as well as the two large screens and more than 300 individual monitors located inside the new Parc Olympique Lyonnais.

Technology-enabled in-stadium fan engagement

Recognising the growing need to produce broadcast quality content to further engage with fans, the FanCast package has been designed specifically by EVS for sports teams and venue operators. The easily-implemented, all-in-one recording and production multi-screen solution enables Olympique Lyonnais to connect with fans on matchday. This is done by delivering live action and instant replays to the in-stadium screens and monitors as well as fans' mobile devices connected to the venue's Wi-Fi. The speed of FanCast means that content, such as multi-angle replays, will reach the stadium's Parc OL mobile app less than two minutes after the action happens on the pitch, giving fans a comparable in-stadium experience to those watching the match at home.

Producing and delivering quality content directly to fans is becoming increasingly important as a way of connecting with them. And with the new stadium, it's vital that we keep them engaged, said Jean-Yves Meilland, Director of OL Images. EVS' FanCast solution provides the live production tools we need to create daily programing in HD for OLTV. We can also use it to produce matchday video and deliver it directly to our fans faster, without the need for additional expensive resources. Today's football follower wants more information, content and value from their team, and with EVS, we're able to meet that demand.

Industry-leading TV channel infrastructure

Another benefit of FanCast is that OL Images is able to use its tools to create live pre- and post-match productions, as well as daily programing for its in-house television channel OLTV. The channel, which is available online and through French networks, recently moved its operations to Parc Olympique Lyonnais. Within the new stadium, it runs two dedicated studios, one overlooking the pitch and the other near the players' changing rooms. There are two galleries and several editing rooms split across different levels and locations. The main gallery is where OLTV's programming is produced from, while the other one, located on one of the stadium's upper levels is used to create the infotainment that's played out on its big screens and monitors via the Cisco StadiumVision solution.

The EVS live production infrastructure, which is spread across OLTV's large internal footprint, is linked via a high-speed network. This means that highlights and replays that are created in the main gallery can be browsed and played out from the second gallery. The workflow includes FanCast's XT3 ChannelMAX live production server, which is used to record eight camera feeds including those from OB trucks and OLTV's own positions, as well as the play out of four video channels. Each gallery is equipped with an IPDirector system which controls the XT3 server and manages its content. Running alongside the C-Cast connected content platform, OL Images uses IPDirector to publish between 50 and 80 video replay or highlights clips per match to the Parc OL app. The new HD workflow also includes an LSM remote control panel which is used to create highlights and replays.

Production switching of OLTV's live content is undertaken using a DYVI system that is located in the main gallery. Depending on what's being produced, DYVI's IT-based configuration can be easily scaled so OLTV only uses the resources it needs for that particular production.

Olympique Lyonnais is one of a growing number of clubs to turn to EVS' live production technology to create and distribute content faster and with greater impact, said S bastien Verlaine, Marketing Manager EMEA at EVS. As video has become an effective way of connecting with fans, it's important that clubs which create content have a suitable production infrastructure in place to increase the engagement level of their fans.

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