CFL introduces new augmented broadcasts on TSN+

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Canadian Football League fans will be able to watch games in a whole new way beginning this week.

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In partnership with Genius Sports, the CFL is unveiling its augmented broadcasts for viewers on TSN+ this week starting with Thursday’s game between the Ottawa Redblacks and Montreal Alouettes.

“We think it’s going to deepen the engagement of our current fans as well as attract some new fans,” said Craig Garvie, the CFL’s senior vice president of marketing.

Throughout the CFL season and into the playoffs, broadcasts on TSN+ this season will feature a “stats-enhanced” augmented viewer experience with digital video elements showing real-time data including quarterback throw time, ball speed and player speed, among other things. They will measure the data with microchip-implanted footballs and player tracking technology.

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“One facet of that is how can we use data and artificial intelligence to create different ways to enjoy the game,” said Sean Conroy, EVP of Genius Sports. “We are going to be collective live data from games using a variety of different sources including tracking devices on players and in the ball and we’re going to be creating a new stats, insights-heavy experience that will cater to a particular type of fan base.”

Viewers who have a TSN+ subscription will also be able to track players with route trees while players will also be identified digitally by name and position.

“We did a lot of testing of a number of different features and a number of different game modes and this was ultimately the one we landed on because we thought it has the biggest propensity to drive fandom,” said Garvie.

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“If you’re watching the CFL for maybe the first time, or if you’re not a regular viewer, you now see those player names popping up and identifying that individual and locating that player and really showing how that play is being developed.”

Through the first two weeks of the CFL season, the league tested the technology. The CFL is now ready to unveil it in Week 3.

“The intention and the vision behind the partnership from Day 1 was essentially to help use data and the technology that Genius has to move the league forward in several ways including creating different types of fan experiences,” said Conroy. “As the market develops and as the media landscape develops, these things are becoming more and more important.

“Everybody needs to be a technology business these days.”

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While many major professional leagues including the NFL and NHL have used these augmented broadcasts in recent years, the CFL is quickly catching up to speed by unveiling their augmented broadcasts just a few years into their partnership with Genius Sports.

“When we talk about the path ahead for fan experience and fan interaction, one word comes to mind — more,” CFL commissioner Randy Ambrosie said in a release. “More information. More understanding. More details to draw viewers in. More data to help fans feel like they’re in the game and truly part of the action.

“Our game is evolving. Through augmented broadcasts, we can showcase everything that makes our league so special — prime athletes in top-flight, the pace of CFL football, the quick-thinking of our players and more. This season’s entire lineup of offerings, developed with our partners, continues to lay the foundations for the future of our great game and CFL fandom.”

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Now that the technology is in place, it’s also opened the door for more advancements in the future.

“Our hope is that it really is the starting point to be able to be the jumping off point for a lot more different types or experiences and innovations in and around video,” said Conroy. “There’s lots of different avenues which we can create new and exciting experience for fans in Canada now that we’ve done the hard yards of putting the platform together.”

tshire@postmedia.com

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