German football league Bundesliga will make virtual advertising opportunities available for international live broadcasts of first and second division matches from the coming season.
Spectators in the stadium and TV viewers in German-speaking countries will not notice any changes, but existing physical advertising boards will be able to be altered through the digital overlay of the transmission signal.
In cooperation with Lagardère Sports, technology provider Supponor has become the first contender to pass the quality check of German football association DFL Deutsche Fußball Liga. The company’s system allows specially certified LED advertising boards to be overlaid digitally.
Test runs with other providers are continuing. The aim of the checks conducted by DFL subsidiary Sportcast is to test whether the image quality and technical integration of the overlaid images into the base signal are maintained under live conditions.
In future, the Bundesliga clubs will be able to use approved systems in conjunction with DFL in each case they consider this to be appropriate.
The German football association wants to arrange a workshop in the near future to inform the 36 Bundesliga clubs about the exact conditions and potential scope of the use of virtual advertising. The plan is to then issue a joint guideline together with the clubs in order to ensure maximum process security in using the new technology, according to DFL.
