Global Fútbol

Whenever ElClásico takes place, the world comes to a standstill to experience and enjoy one of the globe’s most important sporting events. On this occasion, the match between FC Barcelona and Real Madrid produced an unprecedented audiovisual display in which multi-camera signals, social media previews, the latest audiovisual production, and the most cutting-edge graphics made this match the greatest television experience for fans all over the world.

"Never before has a football event been enjoyed with this kind of deployment. Hundreds of millions of fans around the world experienced every detail of the match as if they were in the stadium thanks to more than 30 cameras, unprecedented previews, unparalleled graphics, and much more, with a special focus on social networks during the moments leading up to the match to offer the youngest fans special content," said Melcior Soler, Audiovisual Director of LaLiga.

Multi-camera signals

As of this season, LaLiga and Movistar are offering a new multi-camera signal in their broadcasts, consisting of four windows on a single split screen, plus a real-time statistics module, extracted from LaLiga’s own Mediacoach game data analysis system.

This signal is based on the live master camera shot, complemented by Mediacoach statistics and 3D graphics, as well as special camera shots, with the aim of offering viewers an alternative match signal in which they can enjoy different perspectives and match data.

For ElClásico, the traditional signal was complemented with two multi-camera signals: one for FC Barcelona fans and another for Real Madrid fans. Thus, each had their own LaLiga Casters narrators, and the shots and statistics were geared towards the fans of each team.

Real Madrid fans were accompanied by casters Ibai Llanos and Ander Cortés, while Marc Mayolas and Tresco narrated the match in Catalan for Barça fans.

"Movistar+ has covered ElClásico offering an unprecedented experience for this match. Throughout the whole week leading up to the game, the audiovisual deployment was very complete: the best team of experts from past and present, 24/7 news coverage, a very special preview from the Camp Nou with many surprises, personalised multi-camera channels for FC Barcelona and Real Madrid fans, and in addition to the traditional narration by Carlos Martínez and the rest of our analysts, we offered our own audio casters for each team," says María Inmaculada Martínez, Head of Football at Movistar+.

Camera production

LaLiga's audiovisual production, carried out by Mediapro, is the best in football competitions week in, week out, but was taken to the next level for ElClásico: 4K-HDR production; Live 3D Graphics, with LaLiga being the only national competition in the world to use the innovative Live 3D Graphics technology to generate virtual graphics in the broadcast; REPLAY 360º, with technology that uses 38 Ultra High Definition cameras around the stadium to create volumetric 360º videos for spectacular replays; and a total of 32 cameras.

Among these 32 cameras were 10 super slow-motion cameras, four High Speed, six Super Slow Motion, two cinematic cameras to create a cinematographic effect and act as FanCam, two High Speed Pole Cam located behind the goals, two cameras to follow key players (k-players), one aerial camera (zenithal camera located 21 metres above the ground), a helicopter and a drone.

One of the new audiovisual features in LaLiga broadcasts this season is introduction of drone graphics. Different Augmented Reality graphics were projected on an aerial view of the stadium, including the scoreboard, statistical data of players and clubs, and relevant information of the match, creating a spectacular appearance.

Óscar Lago, Mediapro's head of production, explains: "ElClásico is the best showcase to show the world the quality of LaLiga's broadcasts with an even greater display. At Mediapro we continue to work on introducing all the technological innovations that improve the viewer's audiovisual experience."

ElClásico brings the world to a standstill

ElClásico is the most watched club game in football, reaching a potential audience of 650 million people from all corners of the world through 83 international broadcasters. There were more than 500 accredited journalists at the Camp Nou, nearly half of whom were international.

During the week prior to the match, LaLiga carried out 29 activations with sponsors (nine global and 20 national and regional) and took the new ElClásico brand identity to more than 50 cities around the world through 120 activations, all within the framework of the internationalisation strategy initiated in recent years to increase the value and brand of LaLiga clubs.

South Africa, Indonesia, Colombia, and China were just some of the markets to have hosted face-to-face events with traditional music and dance performances. In addition to a match viewing in Turkey which attracted over 300 participants, an activation in India featuring traditional bicycle taxis, or in Mexico City in Xochimilco on the trajineras.

Fans and players experienced #ElClasico on TikTok

LaLiga and TikTok, the leading mobile video in short format platform, also brought ElClásico to the platform's one billion users, doing so through one of TikTok's most popular trends: "Tell me without telling me." With the hashtag #ElClásico, which drew millions of views, LaLiga (@laliga) and TikTok encouraged users to use their imagination and creativity to generate videos explaining "how they live this sporting event, without saying that they are living this sporting event." The first to join this trend were, among others, Iker Casillas (@ikercasillas) and Memphis De Pay (@memphisdepay).