Sky Sports and the Premier League will be trialling an innovative new camera angle at Emirates Stadium this Sunday as Arsenal welcome Manchester City.
Called "Game Mode", the new viewing experience will feature within the match broadcast starting at 16:30 BST on Sky as well as international broadcasts and will provide a perspective similar to the football gaming world.
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Due to its vantage point, the camera will give the viewer a greater appreciation of space as well as showing runs and ball movement from a different perspective.
After an initial period of testing, the Game Mode camera – provided by BatCam – was trialled last weekend at Emirates Stadium for the Women’s Super League fixture between Arsenal and Liverpool. This is the first time Sky has used a gantry-level railcam in football and has been built in close collaboration with both the Premier League and Arsenal.
The Premier League will be making the Game Mode system available to all of its international broadcast partners and if Sunday’s trial proves successful the camera could be utilised for all future Premier League fixtures at Emirates Stadium this season.
“We’re very excited to see what ‘Game Mode’ can bring to the overall viewing experience for fans and believe it has great potential when it comes to in-game innovation,” Sky Sports Director of Production, Phil Marshall, said. “We thank Arsenal FC and the Premier League for their support in testing this innovation.”
Premier League Head of Media Operations and Innovation, Rachael Nightingale, said that the Premier League is always looking for ways to enhance the broadcast experience for fans around the world. “During this period of testing with Sky Sports and Arsenal FC, we hope ‘Game Mode’ will provide a new and exciting way to enjoy the action at home,” Nightingale said.
Standard coverage of Arsenal v Manchester City will broadcast exclusively live in the UK on Sky Sports Premier League, with an alternative feed of the match featuring ‘Game Mode’ airing live on Sky Sports Football, where standard ‘camera 1’ coverage will be replaced with the ‘Game Mode’ camera.
