72 SPORTS & CEREMONIES
Every single venue at the World Cup had some sort of Ross Video technology in it, including the production switchers, routing, tally systems, graphics, clip playback and the Spidercam. Shealy explains how Ross Video offers the full end-to-end solution for broadcast as well as in-venue entertainment. “If you look at things like our graphics and content management tools, we can provide very high-end and robust software platforms that allow these venues to create the types of experiences and environments they want to without any creative limitations.” XPression and XPression Tessera are the ultimate toolbox for in-venue graphics creation and content playout. “They’re so flexible,” says Shealy. “Whether it be bringing in stat information to engage with the fans and help explain what’s happening in the game, or being able to create dynamic templates, such as matchup graphics, headshot graphics, noise prompts and interstitials, we can render them on the fly rather than always having them pre-rendered by a team just churning out content.” According to Shealy, the biggest competition for venues is the television broadcast itself. He points to the ticket prices as a key reason for making sure the fan experience goes above and beyond. “You simply have to be able to supplement the actual match action It was a World Cup packed with controversy and surprises. Keeping fans entertained throughout the chaos was a clear priority
roam and explore the local area. There were numerous vendors and experiences throughout, with two stages. Bronson enjoyed seeing the festival evolve from the beginning stages and to see fans from different nations, regardless of whether or not there was a game on in Kansas City. “They are their own shows within themselves,” he begins. “We had the main stage, with a main LED wall and two LED wings. There were delay towers with LED walls spread throughout the site, as well as a live stage that also had its own LED wall package.” As well as managing all the different LED walls, there were a number of TV monitors spread throughout the site in different lounge areas of the festival, and engagement areas that Ross Video provided TV channels for. “We also provided the world feeds for the FIFA matches themselves,” adds Bronson. “In-between the games, we had DJs and artists with their own branding, effects and video feeds that they wanted to display on the walls. That was all coming into the truck and then our TV director and graphics team were able to crop, scale and put them on the different LED walls, and so really drive engagement for the fans.” SPIDER SENSE Drew Shealy, manager, solution services, content and workflow at Ross Video, claims that all of the same technology used inside the venues for the matches was the same technology that was driving the Fan Festival. “We do lots of the major sporting events with our partner Van Wagner, such as the NFL Super Bowl and the US Open tennis, and they all use Ross technology at the heart of them. So, we were able to do similar types of experiences even at the fan base.”
This year’s
World Cup invested in inclusivity, with a focus on audio description and live captioning so more people could enjoy the matches
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