Manchester City Football Club bets on production and AV systems for its training center

This sports center has deployed a complete audiovisual production system based on Blackmagic Design products to carry out this type of activities in its academy, which is part of the City Football Academy youth training and development center.

The audiovisual production platform that Manchester City Football Club has implemented at the Academy Stadium, a sports venue that is part of the City Football Academy youth training and development center, includes four units Blackmagic Studio Camera, an Atem mixer 1 M/E Production Studio 4K and a Smart Videohub 40 matrix switcher×40.

These systems are used not only to broadcast content through the digital screens located on the sides of the playing field during matches of the Women's League and the Under-21 and Under-23 categories., but in the broadcast of matches on Facebook Live.

This system designed and integrated by Timeline TV allows to obtain two signals: one is sent to the digital display 15 m2 located in the stadium and the different broadcasters, while the other is broadcast through the club's channels.

As Paula Livsley explains, Manchester City production manager, “The installation of this platform had to reflect the way in which the coverage of sporting events has evolved over recent years.”. We needed a solution that would allow us to share the action on the field of play, not only with the spectators at the Academy Stadium, but with all the international fans in different parts of the world”.

Besides, The AV production team conducts player interviews and produces exclusive additional content that is broadcast before and after each match on Manchester City channels.

“Studio Camera units can be placed on a tripod or attached to a pole, and they also help us to capture exceptional images both in the stadium and during recordings in the studio.. Within the sports venue we use fiber optics to connect the cameras to the production center. Each of the locations has an Atem Camera Converter and, in turn, “The Atem Talkback Converter 4K located in the control room allows you to communicate with the operators and activate the pilot lights through these connections.”.

The distribution of signals within the venue is carried out through a Blackmagic Smart Videohub 40 matrix.×40, which is the axis of the stadium's optical infrastructure. Besides, The matches broadcast on Facebook Live attract large audiences and the club aims to continue to increase.

“This system highlights the various distribution channels that we can take advantage of so that fans have the opportunity to see their team in action,” Livsley emphasizes.. The solution we created with Blackmagic systems not only provides the flexibility required in a traditional stadium, but it allows us to meet our needs as content producers”.