According to Lemo, a supplier of cables and connectors, the Premier League’s camera plan provides for 41 locations per stadium and, most of the time, at least 20 cameras per match. But this is zone coverage. Leagues and streaming services are trying out a different, more personal plan.
Major League Soccer (MLS) and Apple TV will be streaming four of Inter Miami’s matches from the point of view of the club’s most famous player, Lionel Messi. The streams will be shown on the @MLS, @InterMiamiCF and @AppleTV TikTok accounts.
The first of these streams, called “Player Spotlight: Messi,” occurred on Aug. 2, for the match against Necaxa. The others are to be announced. But these are not the first such streams.
The original occurred on Oct. 25, 2024, during Inter Miami’s playoff opener against Atlanta United. It drew some 6.4 million viewers and was, says USA Today, Apple’s most-viewed sports event, presumably of the year.
TikTok’s Global Head of Sports Partnerships, Rollo Goldstaub, calls it “giving fans a front-row seat to greatness, in real time.” Seth Bacon, Executive Vice President for Media at MLS, says the streams will be “bringing fans even closer to one of the greatest players of all time — in a way that’s dynamic, immersive, and made for the next generation of fans.”
Where are we headed with this? Cameras for all players, perhaps worn by the players themselves – 22 on the field and 40 or so for two full squads? How would this affect contracts with their clauses for name, image and likeness? What about profanity and stream delays, on-field brawls, first-person views of injuries? Will spectators in time be paying to follow first-string players, or for permission to switch from player to player?
