LaLiga Bringing Broadcast Innovations For Resumption Of Play, PUMA And LaLiga Celebrate The Competition’s Return, League Wins Anti-Piracy Ruling In Russia

A few days before the competition returns, LaLiga has announced new broadcast experiences that will be part of the remaining eleven matchdays of the 2019/20 season. 

Due to the unprecedented situation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, LaLiga Santander and LaLiga SmartBank matches will look and sound different than they did before the league was postponed.

The innovations have been implemented in two main areas: virtualisation of stands and fan audio as well as new camera positions and the images they will offer to viewers. Both will be carried out with the help of partners and implemented by Mediapro, the official production partner of LaLiga.

“We have made these broadcasting changes so fans can enjoy LaLiga,” said LaLiga President Javier Tebas. “We work with global partners to offer a great viewer experience. We are in an exceptional situation, but for us it has been important to be able to adapt and offer a compelling, cutting-edge broadcast to our fans.”

Virtualised stands and fan audio for television broadcasts

The biggest change for the return of the competition is the virtualised broadcasting that LaLiga will offer to international broadcast partners, which will allow matches to be seen in an attractive way that closely resembles how they looked and sounded before the competition was postponed.

For these broadcasts, the stands will be virtualised and will always offer to-scale images of seated fans wearing the colours of the home club. To develop this digital experience, LaLiga collaborated with Norwegian company VIZRT, which also works with other European leagues.

In moments when the game is stopped, this image of fans can be transformed into a canvas that matches the colour of the home team and will carry institutional messages among other offerings.

This innovative broadcast will also feature virtual sound, which has been obtained through collaboration with EA SPORTS FIFA, in a project called Sounds of the Stands. Through this, the audio library of LaLiga official sponsor EA, which was recorded in real stadiums, has been used and has been digitally adapted so that it can be implemented in real time during the match. It will be adapted to the flow of the game as certain situations occur, such as a goal or a foul, creating what is known as Atmospheric Audio.

Cameras: New angles to bring action closer to fans

The match itself will also be seen differently due to new camera positions. 

Some cameras will shift their location to positions where they would previously have affected the sightline of fans in the stands. Among other examples, the aerial camera will modify its flight path to offer new shots, the bench camera will be moved to the opposite stand, while robotic cameras will be used in the tunnel for reasons of health safety.

All of these changes, which will be maintained as long as matches have to be played behind closed doors, continue LaLiga’s commitment to bring fans at home the best experience.

LaLiga And Puma

LaLiga is celebrating the imminent return of the football season with a new campaign that captures the excitement being felt by the league’s global fanbase in collaboration with its official partner PUMA.

The campaign, titled #LaLigaBouncesBack, launches with a video featuring an array of global sports stars, including LaLiga Santander players Luis Suarez, Antoine Griezmann and Jan Oblak, who are seen passing LaLiga’s official match ball, designed by PUMA. The ball is passed through nine different countries before arriving back in Spain, ready for competition to resume on 11th June.

Marc Bartra of Real Betis and Suso of Sevilla FC, who will face each other in El Gran Derbi to mark the return of LaLiga competition, also appear in the video.

In line with the #BackToWin campaign, launched by LaLiga and Movistar, the video conveys the message that restarting the competition is not only important for LaLiga and its clubs, but also for the millions of fans who follow the competition worldwide, as well as the wider sports industry.

Reflecting the international audience of LaLiga, the ball passes through  the USA (via Fafa Picault of FC Dallas and Juan Pablo Torres of New York City FC), Singapore (including Raihan Rahman of Tanjong Pagar United), South Africa (including Themba Zwane of the Mamelodi Sundowns) and Mexico (including Rogelio Funes Mori), all of which are countries where LaLiga has already established global offices. 

In addition, Japan (Louis Yamaguchi of Extremadura UD), Australia (including freestyler Jed Hockins), Indonesia (including Otavio Dutra of Persija Jakarta) and Philippines (Carlo Dorin, U18 National Team player) are included, while LaLiga Santander ambassadors Diego Forlan, Fernando Morientes and Christian Karembeu also feature.

LaLiga Wins Anti-Piracy Ruling In Russia

LaLiga has won a ruling at Moscow City Court that will see all LaLiga Santander content removed from three Russian websites that had been illegally streaming matches from the competition.

The domains mou.su, hdtennis.ru and liveball.ru were found guilty of showing pirated broadcasts of LaLiga Santander matches in Russia during 2020. In total, these websites were receiving over 1.14 million visits per month.

Having noticed the illegal activity, LaLiga’s in-house antipiracy department, consisting of over 25 technical experts, filed the complaint to the Moscow City Court and compiled the evidence against the three websites, assisted WebKontrol Ltd.

In accordance with Paragraph 4 Article 1253.1 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, the court ruled in favour of LaLiga and ordered the immediate removal of all LaLiga Santander matches from the three websites.

LaLiga has made significant investments in tackling anti-piracy on a global level in recent years, partnering with industry bodies and other rights holders in the process. Through these efforts it has successfully defeated pirate services in countries such as Brazil, Mexico, Peru, Denmark, Senegal and Indonesia to name a few.

The antipiracy team has also developed a range of in-house tools for detecting and acting against piracy which have been shared with other competitions including Belgium’s Jupiler Pro League and Dorna Sports, the rights holder to the world’s top motorcycling events.

Commenting on the ruling, LaLiga’s Audiovisual Director Melcior Soler, said: “Every ruling against piracy is another step towards removing this illegal practice from the industry. Our global team is able to detect cases across the world and successfully pursue legal action, leading the fight against those who are trying to cheat the rights holders, legitimate broadcast partners and fans.”