EYE ON THE BALL The scale of the FIFA World Cup could increase at the next edition
Up close New technology played a major role in the tournament and audiences got to be closer to the action than ever before. Referee-mounted cameras, aerial systems and enhanced replay workflows all helped shape the tournament, while also generating content that could be repurposed quickly for digital and social platforms. Semi-automated offside technology also played a key part, with real-time audio alerts for close margins and lifelike 3D player avatars. However, the technology proved controversial during the Switzerland vs Qatar match after Freuler was awarded a penalty, despite appearing to be in an offside position. Available replays failed to provide a definitive angle and many viewers, commentators and pundits alike were convinced that VAR would intervene and overturn the decision. FIFA blamed a technical outage for causing the whole incident. Ross Video technology was also present at every single venue, including the production switchers, routing, tally systems, graphics, clip playback and spidercam. “Ross’s spidercam was used to flawlessly deliver many of the breathtaking aerial shots, showcasing the safety and engineering that world-class productions rely on,” says Boromy Ung, general manager, spidercam. Aerial cameras more generally weren’t without their controversies. During the Norway vs England match, Norway claimed that the ball struck one of the aerial camera wires in
the build-up to Jude Bellingham’s equalising goal. Although the Snicko technology that can detect when the ball has been touched said otherwise. Ross Video also relied on Rio, the instant replay system. “We utilised Rio Replay to record the world feed matches, the artist performances and live camera angles throughout our Fan Festival venue,” adds Ross Video’s Jake Bronson. Two Rio Replay servers operated by a single replay operator clipped together packages that included highlights from the matches and reactions from the Fan Festival attendees. “Full recordings of the performances were also edited and exported immediately to the remote NAS for social media and archival purposes, turning the footage around with same-day efficiency.” Monetising matches According to BBC Sport, an average 30-second World Cup ad slot on Fox Sports cost between $200,000 (£152,000) and $300,000 (£227,000), which rose to $750,000 (£567,000) during USA matches and the final stages. The 2026 FIFA World Cup was the sixth edition of the tournament to be monetised by Yospace. The company recently reported that it stitched 11.6 billion one-to- one addressable ads into live video
streams during the tournament. This equates to 297 million ads per day during the 39-day tournament. It is representative of a wider trend of viewers shifting their attention to app- based channels on connected TVs, away from traditional linear viewing. Yospace’s busiest ad break came during the beginning of half-time when England played Norway in the quarter finals: 13 million one-to-one addressable ads were ultimately stitched within a two-minute window. Across the entire tournament, there were an outstanding 637 ad breaks (including hydration breaks), compared to 326 in 2022, based on how most Yospace customers applied ad breaks. The introduction of a three- minute hydration break in each game half brought a new opportunity to advertise, which most ad-supported rightsholders utilised. While the hydration breaks may have been beneficial for advertisers and rightsholders, they were heavily booed and criticised by fans and pundits alike for interrupting the flow of the game. The Netherlands’ Virgil van Dijk also questioned their purpose. Teams used the opportunity for team talks, with matches turning into a four-quarter format. The 2026 FIFA World Cup proved that scale is no longer just down to the number of matches. With the increase in host nations, production workflows and camera set-ups, broadcasting tournaments of this scale is a huge undertaking. Whether the 2030 edition of the tournament will increase to 64 teams also remains to be seen. Nonetheless, advertisers will already be eyeing up the opportunity to take advantage of all those potential additional matches.
» Everybody had to expect the unexpected because there were a lot of moving parts. On the technical side, it was about creating a flexible ecosystem «
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