Live coverage of the heavyweight clash between Arsenal and Manchester City on Sunday will feature a new gaming-style camera innovation being trialled by Sky Sports and the Premier League.
The new ‘Game Mode’ camera, provided by BatCam and operated as a gantry-level ‘railcam’, will offer a viewing experience similar to that within the console gaming world where the camera tracks laterally along the touchline, in line with play. The perspective is hoped to give the viewer a greater appreciation of space across the playing surface, as well an appreciation of player movement on and off the ball.
The camera system was trialled last weekend at Emirates Stadium for the Women’s Super League fixture between Arsenal and Liverpool, and has been built in close collaboration with both the Premier League and Arsenal FC. The Premier League will be making the system available to all of its international broadcast partners, and pending the trial’s success, could expand use of the system for future Premier League fixtures at the Emirates Stadium for the remainder of the season.
“We’re very excited to see what ‘Game Mode’ can bring to the overall viewing experience for fans and believe it has great potential when it comes to in-game innovation,” said Sky Sports director of production, Phil Marshall. “We thank Arsenal FC and the Premier League for their support in testing this innovation.”
Premier League head of media operations and innovation, Rachael Nightingale, added: “The Premier League is always looking for ways to enhance the broadcast experience for fans around the world. During this period of testing with Sky Sports and Arsenal FC, we hope ‘Game Mode’ will provide a new and exciting way to enjoy the action at home.”
The feed of the match featuring ‘Game Mode’ will air live on the Sky Sports Football channel, where standard ‘camera 1’ coverage will be replaced with the ‘Game Mode’ camera.
