By Stuart Thomson
Vodafone Deutschland is introducing new 5G-enabled features to its Bundesliga football coverage in partnership with rightsholder DAZN.
The telco is debuting a ‘watch party’ featuring footballers Robin Gosen of Inter Milan and Melanie Leupolz of Chelsea FC Women.
The pair will watch the match between Leipzig and Bayern Munich from their homes in Bergamo and London respectively via a 5G mobile connection while commeting on the game alongside presenter Lukas Schönmuuller in the DAZN studio in Munich, Ann-Sophie Kimmel in the arena in Leipzig and Freddy Tappe from the Vodafone tower in Duusseldorf.
This will be displayed as a picture-in-picture tile on viewers’ TV screens.
Vodafone said its innovative and resource-saving transmission will be made possible by the strength of its 5G coverage internationally.
The 5G Watch Party with Gosens and Leupolz will be broadcast from 20:15 via an additional tile within the DAZN app, with viewers able to react and post comments in real time.
Kimmel meanwhile will roam the stadium with a cameraman in tow streaming live in 5G while she interviews spectators.
The experiment is part of a wider 5G partnership between Vodafone and DAZN.
“Can you still imagine sitting in front of the corded telephone for simple phone calls today? Thanks to 5G, we can now transfer the flexibility that we are used to from our smartphones to TV production: In this way, cameramen and women, in addition to moving their reporters more freely, capture new images and save not only effort but also resources,” said Vodafone Deutschland innovation manager Michael Reinartz.
“At DAZN, we work every day to optimize the live sports experience for the fans. This also includes thinking about how we can revolutionize transmission from the stadium. 5G technology offers us a lot more, and not just in the stadium Flexibility, but also in the programme design. Up to now, for example, it was unimaginable to integrate active players into our transmissions during the season. 5G creates this possibility,” said SVP media at DAZN, Haruka Gruber.
