LaLigaTV is using 3D graphics as part of its coverage of the 2020/21 season.
The dedicated football channel will implement the new graphics from the first match of the season on Friday.
LaLiga already works with production company Mediapro to integrate tracking and performance data into its Mediacoach system which is used by the clubs to monitor performance.
According to LaLiga’s head of content Roger Brosel, the league has decided to use that data to enhance its offering for fans watching on TV. “Initially it was just for performance analysis for the teams, but then we said we’ve got all this data stored here and we’re just scratching the tip of the iceberg when it comes to delivering this data to fans. We’ve seen increasingly the fans are more and more interested in data,” he tells TVBEurope.
“So, what we’ve done this season is connect the Mediacoach system with our graphic engines so that the data is there, live and available for the TV directors and producers working on live games. We’ve tried to draw complex data that could be easily understood by a regular fan, you don’t want to get too complex with data that no one understands, but try to display it in a way that’s helpful for fans to understand. So we’ve created about a dozen different graphics. They won’t be featured in every game because otherwise it would be a little too overwhelming.”
Typically, a graphic showing where a player might aim a penalty would be made up of dots demonstrating where their last foals were scored. But, with the new 3D graphics LaLiga will be able to show viewers a 3D representation behind the goal of where the players’ shoot.
“Or, if there’s a team that always attacks using their right winger, but they never attack use a left winger, we can highlight that like we’ve been doing with the heatmap, but this would be a 3D representation on the grass using virtual graphics,” adds Brosel. “We’ve got statistics for free kicks corner kicks, and we’re trying to work also with predictive data like expected goals and things like that. Our goal now is to make it very easy to understand for fans because we don’t want to confuse people with lots of line drawings and statistics that will of course pop up for 5-10 seconds on screen and then we remove them.”
“We’re very excited because the results that we’ve seen so far are really good. I would say we will progressively introduce these graphics into our coverage,” says Brosel.
LaLigaTV is also installing more aerial cameras for the new season. “One of our goals for this season is to have an aerial camera at almost every match, not only for the biggest games of the season but also for just about any match,” explains Brosel. “We want to be that our standard. This season we will have up to 14 aerial cameras permanently fixed in stadiums so they will be featured in just about every game.”
