View from the Editor: The Heat is on in Miami - March 2007  

Readers, it was with great excitement that S&T sped on down to Miami’s AmericanAirlines Arena (AA Arena) on the evening of 11th March, prior to the triumphant return of Sportel to America. Despite the lack of S&T’s NBA pin-up Steve Nash (the Miami Heat were taking on the Washington Wizards rather than the Phoenix Suns after all, so we had to make do with stalking the Heat’s Shaquille O’Neal), S&T was delighted to be invited into the cavernous ‘kitchens’ of what can only be described as a veritable technology-feast. No nibbling politely for us that evening readers. Instead, S&T adjusted the belt on our Miami Beach Capri Pants and indulged in a moorish gorge on all things technical at the 20,000 capacity AA Arena. Bliss!
At that stage, current NBA champions Miami Heat had won 13 of the past 17 games (11 in a row at home) and was second only to the Wizards in the Southeast Division race, so there was an expectant buzz in the air. (Although that could have been due to the considerable wattage emanating from the $6m central LED cube, affectionately known as Medusa among the Heat Group staff due to her copious yet somewhat sinister cabling. S&T just hopes they unplug her before performing any maintenance.)
S&T’s extremely amiable and patient host for the evening was Ed Filomia, senior director of broadcast services for the Heat Group, whose job it is to oversee and implement all the in-house technology for Heat games and events at the AA Arena. The role was created for him because the Heat sought to build a comprehensive media production unit that could handle everything from ticketing systems, scoreboards and servers through to the in-house television production, and needed someone to manage it all. “We didn’t want to just spend $2m on a control room for NBA events,” explained Filomia, “we wanted other capabilities and for everything to have multifunctional capabilities, yet be managed centrally.”
Filomia is proud of how much ‘Brand Heat’ has achieved in the last few years. His production team has grown from one (him) to 60, with all technology and equipment being under his charge. The AA Arena has six manned cameras during each game, as well as a robotic camera and lipstick cameras (for “beauty and wide shots”). And that’s just the Heat cameras – visiting camera crews also come with their own kit and demands.
The Heat Group’s producers sit courtside during the game, whereas Filomia is based ostensibly in the control room right at the top of the venue – although in reality, he can be required to hotfoot it to anywhere in the stadium if he’s needed. “On game day, I’m constantly on the radio, watching and anticipating, and making sure there are no mistakes. It’s a massively co-ordinated event. It’s not just making sure the cameramen are in the right position or the right video plays out in the time-outs. There are many elements that are brought together to make up the ‘show’ that is a Heat game, including looping 5-10 second messages from 65 sponsors on the LED perimeter screens.”
When some laser lights failed to come on at the right time at the start of the game, Filomia was not phased. “We have contingencies in place and no-one in the stadium nor at home would have been aware of the mistake.”
The production that evening certainly appeared flawless to S&T. The in-house television show that played out to the audience on Medusa had been planned weeks in advance, comprising of carefully choreographed and pre-filmed segments as well as competitions and messages from sponsors. During the game that evening, WBO heavyweight boxing champion Shannon Briggs was in the audience, so a skit had been filmed where Heat mascot ‘Burnie’ challenged the boxer to a duel, followed the cuddly flame through his training and then culminated in a live but staged knock-out of Burnie by Briggs in the centre of the court. Despite Briggs going briefly AWOL shortly before he was due on court, the skit went well and kept the audience entertained. And as for the main action on the court? Heat’s power forward Udonis Haslem's 10-footer in the lane with 0.3 seconds left gave the Heat a 106-104 victory over Washington. They say that a week is a long time in politics. That’s nothing compared with a second in the NBA!

User-generated twaddle?

Recently, the NBA has been joined by English Premiership giant Chelsea Football Club and UK public service broadcaster the BBC in creating  ‘official’ elements to Google’s user-generated website YouTube. Call S&T a kill-joy, but aren't such official channels on social media websites a bit of an oxymoron? Surely the appeal of these sites is the freedom for individuals to express themselves without worrying about offending (or scaring) the object of their derision or adulation? Or indeed just an easy way of achieving the 15 minutes of fame that anyone with video on their mobile phone seems to think is their right these days? (S&T could write a separate piece on why such websites are not our cup of tea, which would involve a comparison to our loathing of home video television programmes and wonderment over the fact that there are people out there who (a) think it is interesting to film themselves in a basement strumming on a guitar or jumping up and down, or perhaps both at the same time and (b) think it is interesting to watch video of someone in a basement strumming on a guitar or jumping up and down. Conclusion: S&T must be getting old.)
Whether you like these sites or not, they certainly look here to stay and one can only admire an ability to monetise the (often) dreary realities of other people’s lives. But with the likes of the BBC, NBA and Chelsea striking a deal with YouTube to contribute content, perhaps it’s only a matter of time before the term ‘user-generated’ will have to be replaced with ‘supplier-generated’. Industry stories are already doing the rounds of rights owners allegedly posting material under the guise of fans…..
The Beeb hopes that its own deal with YouTube will help it reach the latter’s monthly audience of more than 70m users and push extra traffic to its own website. And obviously the NBA and Chelsea are looking to grow their brands and fanbases globally and see this as an extra route to eyeballs. But will their presence deter fans from continuing to post illegal footage from matches or curb fans from posting their sometimes negative feelings on a subject? Sports rights owners may hope their official content will sanitise those impudent masses, but if YouTube and its social content brethren are to stay true to their roots, then this ain’t going to happen. Not in this format anyway. The stirrings of a ‘Keep YouTube Pure’ Society are no doubt only a video-clip away. (That’s if it doesn’t get closed down by Viacom first of course).

Loving the Emirates Stadium

A representative from Google/YouTube spoke at a recent Servecast-hosted (if you’ll forgive the pun) new media conference at the spanking new Emirates Stadium in North London, the home of Arsenal Football Club. Not only was the day both interesting and informative, but S&T enjoyed poking around a Premiership stadium (as being an Exeter City fan is somewhat preclusive of such opportunities, FA Cup permitting). The 60,000-capacity £390m Emirates Stadium claims to be the first high-definition streaming stadium in the world, utilising Sony technology to give fans a high-tech match-day experience. Unfortunately, such wizardry was not enough to keep Arsenal in the UEFA Champions League this year however. Borrowing Medusa from the AA Arena in Miami might help next season, although FIFA probably has rules about employing gorgons and turning opponents into stone. The rotters.
Finally, before S&T signs off for another month and glams up in anticipation of a star-studded evening at the Sports Industry Awards in London, we would like to share an utter gem with you, courtesy of the letters page in UK broadsheet newspaper The Times. One witty reader drew attention to the news that BBC religious television programme Songs of Praise recorded its Easter programme straight after its Christmas one last November in order to economise on budget. Following that example, said the reader, he proposed that the “2012 Olympics be pre-recorded next week, thereby saving the nation [UK] a great deal of money”. Ingenious!
Talking of Easter, S&T would like to wish everyone an enjoyable break, regardless of which flavour of religion you indulge, and to draw your attention to the hapless plight of chocolate Easter bunnies everywhere. According to a recent customer survey conducted by eToys.com, an online US toy retailer, 86% of adults polled say they eat the ears of their choccie-treat first. What is wrong with you eToys.com customers? The feet are easily the tastiest part, and also lucky too. Doh!

Rachael Church-Sanders
Editor – Sport and Technology

Do you heartlessly eat chocolate bunnies at Easter or do you prefer to munch on an old-fashioned egg? If you have any comments or feedback on this article or any of the features in S&T, we would be delighted to hear from you. Please e-mail your comments to editor@sportandtechnology.com. Or watch television instead. S&T is pleased to see Alan Sugar back on UK screens in a new series of The Apprentice. Perhaps he'll choose a winner more wisely this year.

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