The 13th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2020) will begin from September 13 in the UAE at three venues- Sharjah, Abu Dhabi, and Dubai. However, due to the Coronavirus pandemic, which has wreaked havoc all over the world, the matches will be played in empty stadiums.
However, if sources are to be believed, BCCI and broadcasters Star Sports are coming up with novel ways to ensure the players don’t miss their fans’ support in the ground and the fans too feel connected to the happenings live.
This hints at the IPL going the English Premier League way and introducing technology to connect the players and the fans. Kolkata Knight Riders CEO Venky Mysore has spilled the beans on how this will be achieved.
“I have been working very closely with the broadcasters, Star Sports, and I can tell you there are some unique ways of fan connect that have been planned. For example, one plan is to have a LED wall with fans represented there live via technology. So fans can see the players and more importantly, the player too can see the fans real-time and make eye-contact with them”, revealed KKR CEO, Venky Mysore to Gulf News.
This novelty will make fans stay associated with the games as if they are in the stadiums. And at the same time players will also feel their company while playing.
“When a player walks back to the boundary from his bowling run-up, he can actually see fans wave at him and can wave back. Imagine what this will mean for both the players and fans. There are many such plans in place and trust me, fans will not feel left out. And I will urge each one of them to support us as they do and during pujas stay at home and watch us play”, the KKR CEO further said.
IPL seems to be borrowing from the English and Danish football leagues where supporters appeared on a live video fan wall that was streamed into stadiums during the games. Premier League used the live video feeds, each of which featured 16 supporters from each club, and this feed was made available to the broadcasters and to clubs for use on big screens during matches.
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Danish Football League used teleconferencing platform Zoom to show supporters on a virtual grandstand.
Disney Star India Chairman Uday Shankar in an interview with the Indian Express dropped a hint that they are working on various modules to connect the fans to the stadiums, capturing their reactions and actions during the live IPL games.
“As we have to play without spectators, we will find creative ways of using our imagination and creative resources to develop new forms of excitement. Earlier, there was the stadium, you didn’t need to do something. For every reaction, you just had to cut to somebody in the ground, now we will have to think of it and we have to create the experience without people at the ground,” he had said.
“So, you can be at home but you can also be on television. Our ability to recreate the same atmosphere for the fan who is watching it from home is limited only by our imagination, otherwise the fan gives you enough opportunity to capture those moments of intensity and excitement. Everyone has a camera phone, I just need to source them. So, we’ll be thinking differently”, Shankar had declared this in an interview.
