Streamlining Video Technology…With UZ StreamLine
Revolutionising online video in football: In a world of tech giants, increasing competition for eyeballs, and changing business goals, flexibility of the technology solution is critical to maximising revenue and reach.
Words: Matt McKiernan
Having worked in the football OTT world for over 12 years and with over 110 football clubs, I’ve seen the constant adaption, evolution and scale of a club digital offerings, sometimes overnight (I’m looking at you Covid). From ISDN-based audio commentary servicing a niche set of primarily domestic fans to the capability to stream all matches globally to potentially reach millions of fans, both as clubs and as technical partners, we always had to be ready. The most complex element was adapting the technology and operations to fit the challenge of the week.
At times it felt like manoeuvring a tanker through the Suez canal when in reality, you could achieve the same goal with several smaller boats carrying very specific cargo. Video technology is no longer the monolithic mystery box it once was; OTT is easy if you know what makes it tick.
The online video industry, on the whole, has matured to the level where the most feature-rich, scalable and price-conscious tools are now smaller pieces of the puzzle delivered by the likes of AWS media services, MUX, Stripe and Google Analytics, to name a few.
Those puzzle pieces are not all necessary to complete the picture; elements, partners and services can be replaced or removed with ease creating a unique picture for any clubs needs; this reduces cost, reduces the complexity of the final solution, and, importantly, creates a direct fit for the business goals.
Every football club is different, yes, they all play two halves and aim to score more goals than the other, but the business aims, size of behind-the-scenes teams, challenges, fan engagement strategy and content focuses can wildly differ. Urban Zoo‘s proprietary CMS and publishing platform Gamechanger® was built with this flexibility in mind, a microservices-led solution, delivering a core website and app platform whilst allowing for endless adaptability of tools and integrations for a clubs specific aims and partners, i.e. ticketing, retail, streaming, analytics services and many more.
With more and more clubs requesting video as a part of the ecosystem, we took the time to rethink the relationship between football clubs and video technology and subsequently launched UZ StreamLine. A ground-up, best-of-breed commodity-driven streaming solution for football, using interchangeable and proven tools across every step, from content acquisition and video delivery to payment and subscription journeys.
Via selective use of commodity video and OTT elements, using only best-of-breed components means continuous delivery and evolution of the most up-to-date feature set, unrivalled uptime and reliability, protection tools for a modern piracy world, highly advanced monetisation and ROI tools and, critically, one CMS, one login for every club need, including website, native application, e-commerce & retail, Live and VOD streaming and SSO.
Paul Tyrrell, Chief Operating Officer at Aston Villa Football Club, said: “Aston Villa enjoys unique access to a truly global audience. This presents a number of opportunities but also challenges to be the best; we have to be the fastest and have a technology solution that grants us that speed from camera to consumer, is a core of our new video strategy.”
Today, on the rights front, things aren’t slowing down either; with the ever-looming presence of a modern tech giant gobbling up a global rights package for one (or more) of the major UK leagues (see Apple and MLS), clubs may have to rapidly react to another critical change in day-to-day digital operations. It may be scaling back on match-focused streaming operations or potentially the opposite with the touted revocation of article 48, taking on more broadcasting in-house.
Disregarding match rights, clubs are increasingly taking control of the content and rights they do have, producing behind-the-scenes material, press conferences, pre-season tours, and creative highlight packages. A standout example is “Behind the Blades” from Sheffield United TV, which offers a fresh and original perspective on matchdays, a handheld camera approach to the build-up and close of a matchday interspersed with unique angles of the match itself.
UZ StreamLine’s core mission is to offer flexibility and adaptability to any club business model, rights obligation, fan engagement strategy or strategic focus. From unlimited streaming of live events at no extra cost to syndicating content streams to social, clipping tools, boxset functionality and recordings of every match. The core technology components handle the “hard stuff”(access to global feed networks, scalability, video packaging, transcoding, player, insights and payments) meaning the focus can be shifted to developing the best UX and UI experiences for the fan, optimising user journeys and content discovery.
Middlesbrough FC was the first club to embrace the new approach, one that granted them better commercial flexibility and supported both their fan engagement strategies and commercial strategies through cost efficiencies, supplier optimisations and one strategic partnership across the whole digital estate,
Paul Dews Head of Communications at MFC, said: “We’ve been a long time partner of Urban Zoo, our video technology wasn’t quite evolving at the level we needed it to and was causing some operational challenges day-to-day, especially coming out of the back of the Covid streaming uptake.
“As a club with aspirations for promotion, we knew we needed a commercial model and ROI tools that would allow the club to maximise its revenue and reach any league. Operationally the team get home earlier on matchdays, no longer having to wait for videos to upload, which is always a bonus.”
UZ StreamLine was developed to reinvent the mould of video solutions within football and offer unrivalled flexibility for the football club of 2023. Commodity is king in a world of ever-changing commercial obligations, rightsholder changes, new technologies and the ever-increasing fan need for more content. This is just the start of the video revolution, with several clubs and world-renowned sports brands launching within 2023.
Matt McKiernan, now Chief Strategy Officer at Urban Zoo, Has spent 12 years working across the digital sports sector, working with most clubs in the UK, delivering OTT video services, platforms and apps across the globe.
