After the postponement of this summer's 2020 UEFA European Football Championship, The FA has been working with its gaming and esports agency Digital Sports Mgmt to produce remotely captured content to their channels to help fill the content void. As part of this the FA worked with seven other European nations to launch the Play x Unite FIFA 20 tournament, broken down into two tournaments of four.
England competed in Tournament A alongside Germany, Poland and Switzerland broadcasting all their matches live across YouTube, Twitter and Twitch.
Utilizing Kiswe’s cloud-based platform, DSM remotely produced a high-quality broadcast that included live play-by-play commentary, gameplay footage, and a virtual sports desk. The live-streamed event also included eye-catching graphics, layouts, and overlays made possible by Kiswe partner Singular. Featuring post-game interviews with eLions players Donovan Hunt (Tekkz) and Tom Leese (Hashtag Tom), the show proved that exciting and engaging shows can be created from anywhere in the world.
The matches were broadcast across the FA’s YouTube, Twitter, and Twitch accounts which helped reach digital-first and gaming audiences while maximizing engagement across social channels.
While esports at its core has embraced digital production and at-home viewers, a larger shift in live sports taking cues from gaming, both on the production and fan participation side, has emerged in the last few months. Provided with innovative tools and opportunities, we look forward to seeing even more creative solutions emerge within the sports and broadcasting world.
Watch a recap of the Finals game on YouTube.
CrossFit partnered with Kiswe to formulate an open-source broadcast strategy versus the one-to-many approach employed by the vast majority of sports broadcasters.
Using commentary from influencers, the tournament brought in users from around the world.