28 SPORTS FOCUS American Ultimate Disc League
STREAM ON The AUDL is aiming to have instant replay and standardised scoreboard
graphics for its live streaming
really good announcers and people will still be pretty happy. We work hard to get people who are knowledgeable. We have Evan, who is a professional, working with some of the announcers who are often retired ultimate players. They know the game well, but haven’t been in the booth much. Evan really helps them prepare well for a game, even showing them how to take notes beforehand, how to announce names, knowing what the stats are…” However, DeByl says there have been a few glitches involving bandwidth problems. The teams move stadiums frequently and not every location has been vetted for the dependability of its LTE coverage. “Hiccups can happen when a team tries a new stadium, and they had great internet when they tested it on Friday, but then on Saturday the service is intermittent. But generally it has gone really well. “We had a lot of trepidation going into the season, because we hadn’t charged for streaming before. When you charge, it’s a different scenario from when you give something away for free. There can be a lot of angry emails every time a stream fails.” FLYING INTO 2020 While the season runs from April to July, the AUDL will still be working hard during the off-season to keep producing new content to retain current subscribers and attract new ones, and will be planning how to improve its coverage for next season. “For 2020, we want more graphics and we want to standardise streaming packages. So far, it’s been the Wild West in terms of what the different teams have used for streaming – from vMix to Production Truck to OBS. It was a bit of testing ground
ULTIMATE IS A REALLY INTERESTING SPORT FOR TV. IT’S REALLY HIGHLIGHT READY
to see what worked best for people. We’ll have an all-owners meeting in September to see what worked and what didn’t, and after that we’ll raise the bar,” says DeByl. Guidelines for next season’s coverage will include instant replay and the standardisation of scoreboard graphics and opening AUDL animations. DeByl adds that vMix has come out as a favourite livestreaming software. And the AUDL’s coverage is not just limited to streaming – the league has a deal with multi-platform sports network Stadium Sports for streaming and linear broadcast TV. “Ultimate is a really interesting sport for TV. It’s really highlight ready,” enthuses DeByl. “We feel like being on a platform like that has really helped us grow the league and the sport.” AROUND THE GLOBE Although the sport is based primarily in North America, DeByl says there are a notable number of AUDL TV subscribers from France and Colombia to watch the French and Colombian players who have joined the league. There is also a huge social media following from outside the US. The key barrier to a flood of subscriptions from outside the US is that the Vimeo Livestream platform doesn’t yet have provision for localised currencies or
different subscription models. “Right now, we have to stick to US dollars, and $10 can be a lot in countries like Colombia. Even in Canada, they’re having to pay in US dollars, so using localised currencies is a big part of our roadmap going forward,” he points out. Vimeo Livestream is working with the AUDL on how to deliver the 2020 roadmap, but DeByl has been impressed with the solidity of the platform. “We can’t have streams going down, and Vimeo had perfect uptime, as long as the team on the ground could get the stream up and running. I don’t see us moving platforms any time soon.” The AUDL puts social media at the forefront of its media strategy, going by the rule of thumb that ‘more is more’. Every camera angle gets uploaded to a central server, which allows editors to build highlights for social media. “We’ve found things like our highlight reels have been great for the growth,” says DeByl. “We have had our top ten on ESPN like 50 times. We aren’t the NBA, but we try to follow how they work – how they create highlights and instantly get them out on social media.” He concludes: “Some people worry about the problem of cannibalising the linear broadcast, but we just want people to get interested in the league – and that will pay off in the long run.”
feedzinesocial feedzinesocial feedmagazine.tv
Powered by FlippingBook