Dario Marra, Head of Operations of EMG Italy, talks about the many services implemented: with data, statistics, reporting, content enrichment and virtual advertising.

by Roberto Landini

More staff is present in the Milan offices, and some is still stationed in Lissone, where the technical equipment for all graphics playout is already installed.
The effort is quite large because it reaches up to 6 signals, distributed for each game, including international signals and unilateral signal for broadcasters like SKY and DAZN, who owns the rights.

Specifically, broadcasters have the possibility of activating a one-sided graphics package, which it is characterized by custom-made elements rather than a simpler package included with multilateral signals.

On the multilateral signal, graphics are provided as per running order, but for the broadcasters that have both pre-match and intra-match slots with different needs, Boost Graphics, together with Lega Serie A, provides additional contents.
All of these elements are always synchronized with all statistics from Lega Serie A’s Database: we manage data coming from Stats Perform – which provides data from the whole event – from Hawk Eyes, for all tracking data, and from a virtual coach algorithm – an app promoted by Lega Serie A.

All data merge together in the databases, and from there it is provided to a multitude of outputs, including graphics.

OVERVIEW PROCESS

On-site, operators use a highly developed client which allows to broadcast on real time all graphic contents requested by the central control room from Lega Serie A in Lissone. All the graphic elements are provided in preview-mode on site, in order to monitor what would be the real broadcasting result.
When these inputs are sent form the fields via fibre connectivity (provided by Lega Serie A), they land in Lissone and are able to activate the actual graphics through the servers.
Therefore, the operator who’s on site selects a graphic input which is then broadcasted as television graphics by multiple servers, on as many as there are on Lega Serie A distribution lines.

All this takes place only thanks to multiple supervising and control-related professionals, to technical-operational alignments, to on-field personnel with equal levels of check, in order to arrive to the program ready to the live delivery. During the live broadcasting, in agreement with the director, all match statistics are provided as well as all the graphics that may be requested.

Even the wipe, which goes between one replay and another, is directly broadcasted by Boost to give the ability to Lega Serie A to customize that type of element as well.
From the stadium up to Lissone, only one clean feed signal is issued, on which signal no graphics are inserted; thus, once received, it can be differentiated with graphic elements in different languages and with different sponsors.
This allows Lega Serie A to distribute contents according to multiple different options.

For every game, Boost Graphics, moves around 50 professionals who are involved as operational staff, as well as around 10 supervisors, in addition to the project managers and booking professionals.
For each match , there’s always one Boost Graphics’ small Van operating on-site.

There are a total of 380 Serie A matches to which, adding Coppa Italia, the grand total of games reaches 420 in one season.
This is the first of the three years foreseen for the cycle of supplying graphics services to Lega Serie A.

All graphics are delivered in progressive 1080 and, also in UHD, according to the different requests.

Boost Graphics does not only take care of graphics services, but also of making all the data coming from different providers flow into its database systems of normalizing them, saving them, and making them available to all takers, third-party interlocutors, and Lega's outputs.
These also include the Lega Serie A website and the Lega Serie A application.
In addition to this, Boost Graphics also provides to Hawk Eye and Stats perform the technical staff for the tracking services – a service which allows to know, in real time, the position on field of each player, the average speed, the Km traveled and, in general, a complete analysis of all athletic performances of the players.
Moreover, Boost Graphics provides operational staff for the Tactic Camera service, which consists of a camera that, with an exclusively tactical focus, it shots the block of 22 players on field in order to give the possibility to watch, in real time, what is happening on field to all coaches, analysts and all coaching staff.