Update Your Sports Viewing Experience The New Standard Ahead Through Expanding These Three Elements

The Digital Shift Sparked by Crisis

In recent years, professional baseball and J.League attendance figures had been steadily increasing. Sports spectating, which allows fans to experience the "excitement," was seen as a prime example of "experience consumption" and was expected to continue expanding its market.

However, the outlook changed dramatically due to the novel coronavirus. While games have moved beyond being played without spectators since July, attendance remains severely restricted. Furthermore, all forms of fan support, which symbolize the fervor of fans and supporters, are currently prohibited.

Now, the "quiet passion" that fans and supporters are desperately holding back has become a major challenge for organizers: how to amplify and convey this passion to viewers. This has sparked a rapid digital shift in the sports viewing experience.

Attention is now focused on the technology connecting the needs of three groups: fans and supporters wanting to express their passion, organizers wanting to deliver that expressed passion to a wider audience, and remote viewers wanting to enjoy the experience in a more realistic way.

In this article, we speak with Yasuhiro Tsuchiya, Creative Technologist at Dentsu Inc. CDC Future Business Tech Team, who presented at the "SPORTS TECH TOKYO webinar vol.1 - a new game plan –" held on June 24. We explore how the "quiet fervor" in sports viewing, occurring amid the current pandemic, is being captured through

• "Video"
• "Sound"
• "sense of participation"

and explore ways to enhance each.

1. Expanding the Stadium Experience

As it is said that people obtain 80% of information through sight, "visuals" are likely the most effective way to convey the stadium's "sense of unity" and "frenzy."

Even during the pandemic, J.League clubs have gone to great lengths to make stadiums more visually appealing spaces.

A well-known initiative involved clubs domestically and internationally selling cardboard cutouts with supporters' photos attached, which were then placed in empty seats.

These "cardboard supporters," while a simple idea, demonstrated new potential as an example tapping into supporters' desire to "participate" and "cheer." They also created an atmosphere as if supporters were physically present, offering benefits in terms of creating an immersive space for viewers enjoying soccer through broadcasts.

Bundesliga example. "Supporters" filling the stadium.

Additionally, ingenuity was applied to the "choreography" typically created by supporters using paper and other materials. The recent example of Urawa Reds covering the entire stadium seating area with colored vinyl to create a beautiful choreography is still fresh in memory.

However, with restrictions even on the number of staff and volunteers, it would be difficult to implement these initiatives every time. This is where technology comes in.

Mr. Tsuchiya noted,

"In Denmark's Superliga, Aarhus GF placed large video screens in the stadium stands to display images of fans participating via Zoom. Also, in Spain's La Liga, during the 'Sevilla Derby' between Sevilla and Betis, an attempt was made to broadcast by synthesizing real-time images of the audience into the stadium footage."

He introduced systems enabling "fans" to appear as video feeds in real time at match venues.

"In such initiatives, athletes can feel the presence of supporters, and it's better for TV than continuously showing empty stadiums. While some cases didn't go well, we're currently in a phase of trying things out. The greatest benefit technology offers is simplification. It's crucial to start by testing on a small scale,"

he emphasized the importance of this initial phase of testing existing solutions.

Looking ahead, new digital applications are anticipated, such as creating and selling digitally synthesized advertising spaces in empty seats.

2. The Renewed Realization of Sound's Importance in Sports

Sound is also crucial for enriching the spectator and viewer experience.

EA Sports, developer of the official FIFA game "FIFA 20," provides the "ATMOSPHERIC AUDIO" system to the English Premier League and Spain's La Liga. This system dynamically generates crowd cheers and chants in sync with the game's progression.

The concept of leveraging game developers' assets to enhance the audio for actual professional sports broadcasts and livestreams is unprecedented. While cheers are currently generated semi-automatically with human input, this is an area poised for further evolution.

■ATMOSPHERIC AUDIO
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGej37yyw0k

"For example, by training AI to learn the correspondence between specific game scenes and venue audio from archived match footage, it should become possible to estimate with reasonable accuracy what sounds work best for which scenes. Combining this technology with solutions like ATMOSPHERIC AUDIO could lead to the emergence of solutions that enhance the real-time immersion of matches with audio, without requiring human intervention,"

Mr. Tsuchiya also expressed optimism about future technological advancements.

Additionally, the adoption of remote cheering systems has progressed. This service allows "remote supporters" enjoying broadcasts or streams remotely to send their cheers to the stadium from anywhere using a smartphone app.

Numerous J.League clubs have adopted this solution. Since the remote supporters' voices reach the players' ears during the match through the stadium speakers , it's an initiative worth watching going forward for its ability to create an immersive experience.

3. Methods to Enhance Remote Fans' "Sense of Participation" and "Unity" Through Streaming Services

 

Mr. Tsuchiya (right) discusses the potential of viewing experiences in the streaming era. This webinar itself was conducted using the latest streaming system.

Beyond video and audio, various solutions are being introduced.

Mr. Tsuchiya notes that gifting—a means of fostering a new sense of participation adopted by multiple clubs—is a solution whose future trajectory is drawing significant attention.

"Gifting is gaining momentum on streaming services like Twitch and Super Chat. A major reason for this popularity is the real-time visibility of who made a payment and the total amount gifted,"

He further emphasized the system's significant potential for live sports broadcasts,

"For example, if a supporter pays a large amount, it could be displayed on the stadium's big screen. Seeing this, the players would be delighted, the commentators would cheer, and fans watching the footage would enjoy it. For gifting to succeed in sports, isn't it necessary to have a mechanism where the results feed back into the stadium?"

He emphasized the need to transform the act of tipping itself into entertainment.

Regarding streaming services, the collaboration between Twitch and the NBA's minor league (G League) is also noteworthy. Currently, the G League permits streaming on Twitch, allowing streamers to broadcast games with their own commentary.

Furthermore, fans actively engage in the action by posting comments in the chat during the game, creating a sudden surge of excitement.

Mr. Tsuchiya also casts a keen eye on this situation, analyzing, "There are two interesting points about this initiative."

First, the nature of the broadcasts is significantly different from before.

"Traditionally, only major media companies holding broadcast rights have streamed sports content. However, this initiative allows anyone on Twitch to stream sports content. The parallel creation of content with added value like play-by-play and commentary, coupled with viewers being able to choose their content, represents a new approach to content distribution with tremendous potential."

Second, because chat is synchronized with the video feed on Twitch, it captures the excitement across time.

"It's similar to the system on 'NicoNico Douga' where user comments appear in sync with the video. The fervor of fans and supporters is recorded as text, and even after the match ends, replaying the video allows this fervor to be recreated through these words. I believe this expression of 'transcending time' will become crucial for the future of sports viewing experiences."

The attempts to technologically enhance the "video," "sound," and "sense of participation" introduced here are, of course, still experimental and require establishing viable business models. However, I hope you can sense the immense potential in the sports world's accelerating digital shift—its drive to expand expression and realize viewing experiences that transcend the constraints of place and time.

During the webinar, Mr. Tsuchiya described the global landscape of ideas and experiments expanding spectator experiences as "a kind of festival." Sustainable business models must emerge from this.

Going forward, 5G—with its high speed, large capacity, and low latency—should also become widespread. The challenge for the sports world now is to activate and embed these movements by leveraging existing infrastructure and solutions.

When we can amplify the stadium's "quiet fervor" and add new value to the intrinsic worth of sports, our spectator experience will be fundamentally transformed. The sports world is now at a turning point for transformation.