Some matches at the Australian Open, a major tennis tournament, were streamed with players looking like video game characters reminiscent of Sims or Wii Sports tennis.
In the video above, there’s a game between Alexander Shevchenko and Carlos Alcaraz, but you probably won’t recognize them, as they were replaced with digital avatars. Special software synchronizes the sportsmen’s movements with 3D characters in real time using the motion capture technique and AI.
According to sports reporter Bastien Fachan, the reason for making the alternative broadcast is that the Australian Open doesn’t own all the broadcasting rights:
With the alternated streaming, the broadcasting company doesn’t have to deal with the rights to stream the event, and the audience can watch it on YouTube. Such a compromise allows the media to broadcast the match, and the viewers can still be able to watch the sportsmen’s movements.
Replacing sportsmen with digital avatars is a common trend in sports broadcasting. Apart from the broadcast rights issue, bringing fictional characters to sports has also been a way to attract younger audiences to sports. For instance, the Simpsons were featured in an NFL game, and SpongeBob also participated in an alternative Nickelodeon broadcast of a football match.
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