The last two Champions League Finals were produced in 3D but there are no concrete plans by UEFA to make 3D a standard requirement. Indeed UEFA’s rights marketing agency TEAM Marketing believes football is “not yet an ideal platform for 3D.” “While more rights holders are taking internal tests of 3D there is no strong momentum toward bringing 3D in as a standard,” said Markus Hövel, head of TV operations, TEAM Marketing. “Football is not yet an ideal platform for 3D. We know that it is easier to cover other sports and events in 3D but we feel that it is difficult to maintain a high standard of 3D production over 90-minutes in a live environment when no-one is sure what is going to happen from second to second on the pitch.” “Several broadcasters however are interested in taking highlights of a few minutes containing the best shots in 3D,” he added. TEAM Marketing sells all commercial rights on behalf of UEFA for their club competitions (UEFA Champions League -145 matches per season; and UEFA Europa League – 205 matches per season) to broadcasters internationally. The 3D signal for the Wembley UCL final in May was taken by more than 20 rights holders, although only a limited number actually offered the match to the consumer in 3D. The Sky group of broadcasters (mainly BSkyB, but also frequently Sky Deutschland & Sky Italia) produce various UCL matches in 3D. UEFA’s rights are sold in three year cycles with the next tranche due for review from 2015.
