Aircast is a new technology that is promising to revolutionise the viewing experience for fans at sporting events. No longer will they have to miss out on what the broadcast viewer sees and hears.
The creators of Aircast claim it is the world’s fastest in-venue ultra-low latency audio and video streaming technology that will enable fans to watch and listen to the action happening in front of them in real-time. People at the event will have no 35 to 60-second time lag that renders streaming services unusable on a phone at the venue.
Mediaweek spoke about the initiative that could revolutionise the sports experience with Aircast head of marketing and business development, Jason Bennett.
Jason Bennett
He explained Aircast was created in Melbourne by world-renowned big-event broadcast technology manager Craig Horobin, who has run the broadcast tech for global events including Olympic Games, FIFA World Cups and Commonwealth Games.
“Craig and his team of tech experts, who are spread across the world, have cracked the latency code and unlocked a new frontier for leagues, clubs, venues and rights holders to deliver their broadcast coverage to fans in the stands as well as at home on the couch,” said Bennett.
In addition to his work with Aircast, the busy Bennett is also a broadcaster with Seven on AFL, AFLW and VFL broadcasts. He works too for ESPN on WNBL coverage and also runs his own media consultancy, Bennett Media.
“Our generation grew up taking transistor radios to the footy and cricket to be able to listen to the commentary and keep track of everything that’s going on while live at the ground,” Bennett continued.
“It’s crazy that, in 2023, I can virtually run my life from my phone but I still can’t use it to watch and listen to a live event without that delay that renders streaming services unusable on my phone when I’m at the venue.
“I end up shutting it down and putting it back in my pocket. You can’t watch a game and listen to commentary that’s a minute behind. It does your head in.”
Aircast being used at a Boomers game
All that could be about to change.
“Craig and I have been working together on Aircast since 2019 and as soon as I heard about the idea, I was sold. My first thought was – ‘How has no one been able to solve this problem until now?’ That’s often a hallmark of a great idea. ‘How come this doesn’t exist yet?’ It became a passion project.”
Bennett said this real-time sports broadcast wish had been occupying many great minds.
“Our tech team have solved an extremely complex puzzle and delivered a simple user-friendly solution that will allow you to pop in your earbuds, fire up your phone and choose your own preferred commentary and camera angles while sitting there enjoying the action in the stadium, arena, golf course or racetrack. Real-time audio is great. But real-time video on top of that is incredible.
“Nothing beats the excitement and atmosphere of being at a live event, but the reality is that you don’t get the same level of context and information sitting in the grandstand as you do sitting on the couch at home. We set out to combine the best of both worlds – fans can go to the game and enjoy the coverage at the same time.”
Aircast was chosen as one of 10 start-ups from 920 applicants across 40 different countries to be a part of Comcast’s world-renowned SportsTech Accelerator Program in 2023. The program connects the world’s top sports tech startups to the top sports partners.
“To be considered in that elite company is a huge badge of honour for us,” said Bennett.
“This program opens the door to the US market via program partners that include NBC Sports, Sky Sports, WWE, NASCAR, PGA Tour, Xfinity, Peacock, Comcast Spectacor and more. We get direct access to experts, decision-makers, and leaders from these organisations, who are specifically there to help improve our product and prepare us for commercial success. It’s an incredible opportunity that is already supercharging our business. The next couple of years are going to be so exciting as we launch Aircast around the world.
“As a sports commentator with broadcast production experience and marketing background, Aircast is just about the perfect project for me. I’ve learnt so much about the sports tech world and met some brilliant people from the world of start-ups. It’s a completely different world with its own unique energy and set of challenges.”
One of the exciting things for Bennett on this project has been the chance to reconnect with a former collaborator.
“I get to work again with an ESPN colleague, Danny Keens, who I worked with when we were both based at HQ in Bristol, Connecticut back in the day. He then spent a few years as Twitter’s senior VP of sports partnerships in North America and has since been involved in some incredible tech startups. To reconnect with Keensy, who is an Aussie now based in LA, has been fantastic. I’ve learned so much from him.”
When will Aircast arrive?
Bennett: “We are running some demos in stadiums for our Comcast accelerator program partners in the US over the next month.
“We’re also in commercial discussions with Australian organisations, so if you’re a league, club, venue or broadcaster that is interested in being able to supply live in-game broadcast to your fans, then we’d love to talk to you. Stadiums, arenas, racetracks, golf courses, greenfield events – we’ve created solutions for all of them.”
Game day revenue, new broadcast rights
Bennett added Aircast unlocks an entirely new game-day revenue stream by effectively creating a new set of broadcast rights – in-venue rights. “The in-venue stream can also be customised with its own advertising – banner ads, video ads or squeeze-backs. We’ve designed Aircast to be a profit driver that makes money for these organisations by creating new inventory for them to share.
“We want to help sporting organisations be more profitable by harnessing what they already have while enhancing their fan experience at the same time. It’s a compelling offer.”