This weekend’s Bundesliga Der Klassiker between Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund will be available to watch in a virtual Playmobil world using the official match data.
According to Bundesliga Media, the pilot project sets a “new benchmark for alternative live broadcasts in international professional football”.
During the game on Saturday, the players’ positions on the pitch and real movements will be depicted in the form of Playmobil-style figures.
Bundesliga upgraded its player tracking to a 3D model at the start of the 2025-26 season, with Sportec Solutions capturing each player’s body as a three-dimensional “skeleton” comprising 21 defined data points, including the head, shoulders, hips, arm and leg joints, heels and toes.
The skeletal data is already used for semi-automated offside decisions. The visual rendering of the Playmobil world is provided by EA TRACAB, while AWS Cloud serves as the scalable backbone of the broadcast.
In Germany, the virtual broadcast will be available on Sky and RTL+, including themed studio programming, audience interaction and “creative features”. The virtualised coverage will also be available to fans around the world via Bundesliga’s media partners. In the UK, fans will be able to watch via Bundesliga’s YouTube channel and app.
“The virtualisation of the Der Klassiker demonstrates a new approach to developing media products from the perspective of fans and partners, combining entertainment, storytelling and live football into a single experience. This virtualised live broadcast brings together football, technology and nostalgia,” said Dominik Scholler, SVP of product management and innovation at Bundesliga Media.
