FIFA: "Near-live" Clips and New Technologies in World Cup Qatar 2022™

FIFA has partnered with the world's leading broadcasters to offer fans new ways to watch the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™.

This year's tournament in Qatar provided a unique opportunity to showcase cutting-edge technology at the service of football. FIFA has a long history of producing world-class programming and is committed to using the latest technology to engage and inspire new audiences around the world to play.

FIFA Chief Business Officer, Romy Gai, stated "The FIFA World Cup is the greatest show on Earth and we want fans at home to experience the magic of the tournament in a unique way."

He added "The eyes of the world are always on this flagship event, but it's important that we continually improve our product to enhance the viewing experience and develop compelling content for new digital channels to keep the game growing and resonating with fans from all over the world."

This year in Qatar, to stay at the forefront of sports broadcasting, a range of digital products have been launched for the FIFA World Cup in partnership with 342 Media Rights Licensees (MRLs) to bring viewers closer to the game than ever before.

New technologies and cross-device products were solutions that FIFA offered to its broadcasters to attract generations wanting to interact with the game through new media.

According to FIFA, For the first time at the FIFA World Cup™, vertical social media content was captured using a mobile phone and shared with broadcasters for use in their coverage. The content creators captured key moments of the game for instant distribution with "near-live" clips that give viewers a sense of intimacy and authenticity. Additional content – ​​be it open training sessions or press conferences – was also made available for social media sharing.

FIFA has developed an Augmented Reality app that offers viewers immersive content via mobile devices to bring the action to fans' homes, turning living rooms into a 3D data center without cutting fans off from their surroundings. The new tracking data means fans can gain insights into a specific player or team for real-time stats and detailed analysis of their scores.

FIFA also has developed services to fill interfaces such as video-on-demand (VOD) clips, and almost live -Transfers. Multi-angle clips or near-live stats to help MRLs to integrate content into their multimedia platforms such as mobile phone applications, smart TV applications or web interfaces.

Gai added "FIFA is constantly evolving its television product and looking for new forms of consumption that can complement the at-home fan experience at FIFA events", "Digital technology has changed consumer habits and fans can now access live games anywhere, anytime from multiple devices."

"Viewers are becoming more active and less passive when consuming content, and in the future, they will have the opportunity to choose how to enjoy an event like the World Cup, whether through live streaming solutions more suited to virtual reality are, or through games and the possibilities that the Metaverse brings with it. It might even be possible for home viewers to take the stadium to their living room and actually sit next to their favorite player or commentator while enjoying everything the game has to offer." Expressed Gai.