Ease Live has announced its graphics overlay platform has been selected by Rally.TV, aiming to enable a new interactive experience for viewers of the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC).
Launched across iOS and Android during the Vodafone Rally de Portugal, the solution enables fans to track cars through each stage, view live driver split times, follow live classifications and more. The deployment aims to widen Rally.TV’s global video and streaming audience, making the immersive experience available across more screens and devices. Following its launch across mobiles and the Rally.TV website, the next stage will bring the experience to Smart TVs.
Commenting, Ease Live’s CEO, Kjetil Horneland, said, “Rally is one of the most demanding live sports experiences to translate for digital audiences, because the action is happening everywhere at once, across stages, split points, classifications and head-to-head battles. Working with WRC Promoter and Rally.TV, Ease Live has helped create an interactive experience that makes that complexity easier and more engaging for fans to follow. It is exactly the type of data-driven, synchronised experience that can help sports rights holders increase engagement, create new sponsorship inventory and build more valuable direct relationships with their audiences.”
The launch follows Ease Live’s work to drive interactive overlays for major sports leagues, broadcasters and streaming service around the world, turning live data into an engagement layer to drive commercial opportunities and enhanced fan experiences.
“Rally fans want more than a passive stream; they want to understand the story of the stage as it happens,” said Philipp Maenner, senior director of media rights and OTT platforms at WRC Promoter. “The new interactive experience powered by Ease Live enables Rally.TV to give viewers a clearer, more engaging way to follow every split, compare drivers in real time and stay connected to the leaderboard battle wherever they are. Working with Ease Live is helping us to bring this data-driven experience to fans across different devices as we continue to make rally coverage more immersive, accessible and interactive.”
