The way we watch live sport has changed over the past 12 months, but now it’s changing for the better.
Understanding the frustration that fans feel because they cannot see their team in the flesh, BT Sport has gone back to the boot room to create the most immersive match day viewing experience there’s ever been. As of this week, for the first time every BT Sport customer can access its exciting Matchday Experience service, across Apple and Android phones and tablets.
Here are just some of the highlights:
1. Watch Together allows you to enjoy live sporting drama while you chat to friends, family and fellow supporters thanks to a split-screen interface.
Create your own Watch Together rooms to invite up to three mates and celebrate and share frustrations together during the live action in a unique match viewing experience.
2. Matchday Live will allow you to access team line-ups and formations through its Match Day Live feature while bringing to life all the stats you’ll ever need – and probably some you’ll never have considered.
The AR works in real time as you watch the live action to provide a more immersive experience than ever before. Perfect for the age of free-flowing football, the only thing you’ll want to be static is the opposition’s back four as your star striker steals in for the winner.
3. 360 degree cameras will give you the chance to choose different camera angles rarely seen during traditional broadcasts with fixed-camera positions.
The “pinch and zoom” functionality enables you to home in on your specific areas of interest to recreate the feeling of being at the ground where your skilled eye knows what’s happening off the ball is often as important as what’s happening on it.
It’s just like being back in the stands, but with no stanchions to obscure the view.
4. Stadium Experience augmented reality feature allows viewers to take virtual stadium tours in an access-all-areas way you’ve never been offered on match days at select stadia.
Use an augmented reality doorway in the BT Sport app to be transported into exclusive behind-the-scenes experiences inside the dressing rooms, dugouts, trophy rooms and tunnel areas.
5. Manager Mode is perfect for those who love to study the tactics and phases of play to work out what’s going right – and sometimes wrong – for your side.
You have the choice of adding real-time graphics augmented on the pitch as part of your coverage. It includes a mini-map tracking the positions of all players, plus player names, player speeds and coming soon velocity trackers marking the path of shots.
All five Matchday Experience features will be available around BT Sport 1’s Saturday lunchtime Premier League matches (Stadium Experience and Match Day Live around BT Sport’s Premier League matches will become available via Android devices in due course).
In addition, all five Matchday Experience features are now available around select midweek Premier League games, continuing with BT Sport 1’s exclusively live coverage of Tottenham Hotspur v Chelsea on 4 February. Meanwhile, Watch Together can be used by BT Sport customers around any programme broadcast across BT Sport’s four TV channels.
Feature availability will expand over the coming season, for example with Manager Mode soon becoming available around select UEFA Champions League matches on BT Sport. Selected Matchday Experience will also become available around BT Sport’s coverage of certain matches from the UEFA the Emirates FA Cup, Gallagher Premiership Rugby, and boxing clashes. Wherever you choose to watch, experience a matchday experience like never before.