Euro Champs a success for Supponor technology

Successful coverage of the European Waterpolo Championships has delighted the team behind Supponor’s DBRLive technology.

It was the first time the system, which replaces digital billlboard ads during broadcast, had been tested at a water-based indoor stadium event.

And the technology rose to the challenge, allowing Supponor to replace poolside billboard ads in broadcast feeds from 44 games over two weeks at the Pieter van den Hoogenband Swimming Stadium, Eindhoven.

Guy Hollis, Supponor’s Head of Operations, said: “The lighting, warmth, humidity - and of course, the water - were all potential problems for our technology. But we made the necessary adjustments successfully and we’re very happy.”

Hollis said the Championships, which finished on Sunday with triumphs for the Serbian men’s team and Italy’s women’s team, also gave Supponor the chance to work with production partner United, one of Europe’s leading providers of broadcast facilities.

Feeds incorporating replacement billboard ads were broadcast internationally, with Italy and Hungary among the recipients.

LEN, the European governing body of swimming and its sister aquatic disciplines including water polo, broadcast the DBRLive feed live on its web site, as did betting sites such as Bet365.

“The whole event went really well from our point of view,” said Hollis. “It’s given us technical data on what can be improved, which is good, and it’s also given us a lot of confidence in our ability to rise to any challenge.”