36th America's Cup and Imagen: Seamless Event Coverage

London, UK - February 16, 2021 - With most international borders closed, the 36^th America’s Cup, the pinnacle of yacht racing, aims to make its coverage open and accessible to all. The oldest international sporting trophy has signed a record line up of international broadcasters, yet none are physically able to attend the event in Auckland, New Zealand. Imagen’s digital asset management platform therefore performs a crucial role in storing and distributing the coverage of the event to fans, broadcasters, media, competing teams and sponsors, anywhere, anytime. Being able to upload and securely share and distribute the right content is key to ensuring seamless access to fast-paced action in the open waters.

The America’s Cup has always faced its own set of production challenges. Event coverage is produced by two gyro-stabilised cameras on helicopters, two gyro-stabilised cameras on chase boats and each yacht carries ten cameras, microphones and a wide variety of sensors. Four live feeds are produced – the world feed, two yacht feeds and a data feed – along with short and long form highlights and an extensive range of feature content. This year, the pandemic has created a further set of logistical challenges making real-time, secure access to footage central to ensuring fans around the world are able to enjoy the races online from anywhere in the world. Managing and distributing digital media from hours of footage for an event that spans several months is no easy feat. Imagen’s cloud-native digital asset management platform therefore performs a vital role in the orchestra of this sports production masterpiece.

Stephen Nuttall, Managing Director Media & Production, America’s Cup, says: “After the first America’s Cup 1851, Queen Victoria asked who had finished after the winning yacht, America. The famous reply came: “Your Majesty, there is no second.” The America’s Cup relentlessly reinvents itself and we have sought to bring together world-class production and technology within both sailing and other sports. We aim to create coverage that brings fans, wherever they are, close to the exciting racing in Auckland’s summer sunshine. Imagen’s digital asset management technology means we’re able to store and distribute footage in realtime to multiple stakeholders - including broadcasters, media, teams, sponsors and the event itself.”

Charlie Horrell, CEO Imagen says: “As a digital asset management (DAM) platform with a 25-year legacy, we’re thrilled to support an historic sporting event and match the speed of the yachts with DAM technology that can support the formidable scale of video content produced throughout the series of races. Imagen has teams in both the UK and US, and has closely followed the paths of the New York Yacht Club’s American Magic as well as Britain’s INEOS Team UK, headed up by British sporting legend Sir Ben Ainslie.”

America’s Cup 2021 runs between December and March, including the upcoming PRADA Cup Final. It is widely available, streaming live on the official America’s Cup YouTube Channel, Facebook and on americascup.com. It will also be on free-to-air and pay-to-view networks in nearly 200 territories around the world, including TVNZ in New Zealand, RAI and Sky Italia in Italy, the BBC and Sky UK & Ireland in the UK, and NBC Sports in the USA and Caribbean.

About America’s Cup 

The America’s Cup, the oldest international sporting trophy, relentlessly reinvents itself. The current, 36^th, generation of the Cup sees teams of eleven sailors compete in spectacular 25m long, eight stories high, carbon-fibre monohulls that fly on foils. Racing takes place on the Hauraki Gulf in Auckland, New Zealand. PRADA is the presenting sponsor of the 36^th America’s Cup. 36th America’s Cup: www.americascup.com.

About Reuters Imagen

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