Fan chants are to be added to the broadcasting experience when Premier League football eventually returns behind-closed-doors.
Coronavirus: Fan Chants to Be Played in Behind-Closed-Doors Premier League Matches
Tech Company In Discussions With Premier League Broadcasters
Football fans have been starved of live football from within the UK since the Premier League was suspended midway through March.
But a technology company is in discussion with Premier League broadcasters about improving the television experience when football eventually returns.
The move could allow fans to record chants for their team and have them added to the soundtrack.
According to the i newspaper, OZ Sports has the answer to the lack of atmosphere as experienced with the return of the Bundesliga.
The report states that using an app, spectators will be able to have “chants piped into the stadium” and can even view “from a variety of angles, as if the viewer was on the terraces themselves.”
CEO and OZ Sports founder Gudjon Mar Gudjonsson told the i newspaper: “When we normally implement our technology, we do it in conjunction with the licence-holding broadcaster; let’s say Sky in this example.
“We deliver to Sky a website landing page – then you can see all of the matches that Sky decides to augment in the portal.
“You then pick the match you would like to join, pick your seating within the stadium and then pick your favourite club.”
He added that users will be able to provide real-time updates to improve the matchday experience.
“It is a full audio and visual augmentation,” Gudjonsson said. “We get input from fams throughout the match through the app., from there we do time synchronisation mixing so the sound comes out at the tight time, and from there we do real-time mixing to make it sound real.
“For every new sport we work on, we collect all the game audio soundbites like fans singing into the microphone on their mobile app, and try and give the best experience possible.”
Premier League Bosses Working to Improve Fan Experience
Premier League Chief Executive David Masters admitted that they are working on improving the fan experience.
“In terms of the precise nature of what we are planning, we haven’t really talked about it with the wide group yet so I don’t want to share too much of the plans,” he said.
“But obviously the big issue is that if there aren’t fans in the stadium, what does the viewing fan at home, what’s his/her experience like? And how different is it to a normal Premier League production? That’s the question we’re seeking to answer.”
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