A 22-question, multiple-choice questionnaire was designed to measure the attitudes and preferences of sports fans with reasonable detail (descriptive research). Through random probability sampling, fans were interviewed at a variety of venues – both onsite at major sports events and at public areas such as sports bars, airports and commercial centers. It covered five sports (football/soccer, basketball, hockey, baseball and tennis) across Germany, Belgium, Spain and three major cities of the United States (New York, Chicago and Dallas). Respondents were all 18 years of age and older and identified as a keen spectator of any sport (at least two hours per week spent following sports in person, on television or through any other media). Cross tabulation and chi square segmentation analysis was utilized to formulate results.

It all started with a simple but intriguing idea on a layover at Moscow airport: What if you could get the whole world running? Everyone, worldwide, on the same day, at the same time. A race of epic proportions with just one lone runner left at the end. A world run. But could it be done? It could.

As a leading provider of technical, production and distribution services, the MEDIAPRO Group knows what it takes to produce a great live production. Having been a customer of EVS for over 20 years, it understands the importance of using the right equipment in the unforgiving live environment.

El Clásico is a clash between Spain’s two biggest clubs Real Madrid CF and FC Barcelona, and one of the biggest and most prestigious matches in world football. The first El Clásico of the 2015/2016 La Liga season was played in Madrid in November. In charge of producing the host broadcast feed for the game, MEDIAPRO wanted to broadcast feeds in both HD and Ultra-HD. To do this, it installed a number of EVS technologies to enable the production.

Euro 2016 proved the power of live TV, its capacity to bring people together and its emotional impact across generations. Broadcasters throughout Europe have reasons to be proud of the audience figures achieved during the championship. Live sports events such as the Euros are usually enjoyed on TV sets. However, TV is now available everywhere and on every screen, and more and more viewers can watch games on tablets, smartphones or computer screens – either live or on-demand. The fully audited global figures for the matches will not be known for some time, but broadcasters are already confident that the numbers for the France – Portugal final have surpassed the 299 million viewers worldwide who watched the Spain – Italy final in 2012.

Based in London, Timeline Television is a well-known name in UK broadcasting. For the past 10 years, the company has been spearheading broadcast solutions from concept to completion, including: outside broadcasts, post-production and studio-based productions. With two sizeable post production facilities in London and a third in MediaCityUK (Salford), Timeline works with many of the UK’s broadcasters to deliver technical and creative facilities for programmes that vary in size and scope from live music and awards shows to political party conferences, global and domestic sports competitions, and current affairs. 

Tour d’Azerbaijan is an international bicycle race that takes place annually in Azerbaijan and is part of the UCI Europe Tour. For a couple of years German System Integrator Broadcast Solutions has been supporting the local broadcaster with technology and manpower. The major production vehicles used were a Streamline OB Van and a DSNG, delivered to host broadcaster Baku Media Center plus additional production support.

The sport of harness racing, also known as trotting, is tremendously popular in Sweden. Reflecting just how much our citizens love watching and betting on trotting races, there are 33 tracks throughout the country devoted exclusively to the sport – and they collectively host almost 1,000 race events every year. The tracks are owned by separate non-profit organizations whose purpose is to conduct races and promote interest in trotting and breeding in their respective region. The Nordic countries even have their own breed of trotting horse known as the Nordic standard, horses that are bred for cold-weather racing in northern Sweden and compete in their own class.

Petrol heads may still see it as sacrilege, but after two successful seasons Formula E, the racing championship for electric cars, has proved popular and is making people look at motor sports in a different way. New technology is also playing a major role behind the scenes, providing the vital communications link not only between the team engineers and their drivers but also allowing televisions viewers to hear the instructions being given and enabling commentators to interact with the racers.

With an unrivalled 62-year history of elite competition, MotoGP is the world’s premier motorcycling championship, comprising a nine-month, 18-round season, in 13 different countries, spanning 4 continents. Dating back to 1949, it is the oldest motorsport World Championship in existence. Since 1992 the commercial rights and the production of the international TV signals are owned by Dorna Sports SL, with the FIM remaining as the sport sanctioning body.

Only an exceptional event could be the maidenly broadcast for the exceptional OBVan from AMP VISUAL TV. So AMP VISUAL TV decided to debut the Millenium Signature 12 (MS 12) at the world’s most famous endurance race in Le Mans. With the production of a 24-hour non-stop program for 30 international broadcasters for the delivery to 35 million spectators in 190 countries, the target was set very high.

Since BT Sport launched its Ultra HD service in August 2015, the broadcaster’s custom-built Ultra HD vehicle has been at the heart of its game-changing live productions.  Designed and built in close collaboration with OB production partner Timeline Television, the truck – the first of its kind in Europe - has helped BT Sport deliver a range of live sporting events as an immersive cinematic experience to viewers across the UK, from Barclay’s Premiership football, Moto GP to more niche-interest sports such as international championship hockey and Speedway.

The 2017 World Rowing Championships, the ultimate rowing event and season highlight, governed by the World Rowing Federation FISA, were hosted at the Nathan Benderson Park, a new setup water-event location in Sarasota/Bradenton, Florida USA. With this championship the biggest international rowing event returned to the US after more than 18 years. More than 900 athletes were competing for the title of World Champion.

The cyclists on the Tour de Suisse pick up the pace. More and more people are gathering on the side of the road. The participants seem tense. They go faster and faster. Soon there are just a few meters to go before the finish line. Now is not the time to show any weakness. Find whatever strength is left. The spectators cheer. Nerves are on edge. Just a few centimeters separate the cyclists. Who will emerge victorious? Cut.

Every year on a weekend in May over 150 cars will race the ADAC Zurich 24h of Nürburgring on the combined Nordschleife and Grand Prix track. Cars range from the SP9 GT3 class (from which the winner is expected), to a humble Golf GTI and an Opel Manta. The top cars the past couple of years have been Porsche 911 variants, the Audi R8, Mercedes SLS, and BMW Z4. New this year was the Bentley Continental, with two cars from Bentley Motorsport. Notably absent is the McLaren 12c, which qualified well last year but failed to finish due to reliability and accidents this year.

The America’s Cup sailing race is the oldest trophy in international sport, dating back to 1851. And for the 35^th edition, presented by Louis Vuitton, the location was Bermuda, as the event moved to the iconic Great Sound.