Within Dazn’s £ 736M Club World Cup operation: secret ingredient for their 24/7 work, why they raise the next generation of experts, including a Premier League star -and how AI helps achieve fans worldwide

Dazn’s broadcast nerve center buzzing with activity, but De Bijenkorf depends on an important ingredient to maintain his energy.

“The entire production is powered by chocolate,” says the Mail Sport guide as a confused runner who runs past with a trolley full of goodies. Unfortunately no twix beams for us.

We are here at Dazn’s Global English Production Hub, organized in IMG’s Studios in an outpost in West -Londen, for more information about their 24/7 operation for the World Cup ClubOne with hundreds of hands on deck and millions of eyeballs worldwide.

In some respects it is a glimpse into the future of sports coverage. Dazn seems to stay here, spreads their ranks over boxing, golf, football and other sports since he started broadcasting in 2015 and is now being viewed in more than 200 countries.

Big money is also revolving. In December, Dazn paid $ 1 billion (£ 736 million) for the rights to stream the FIFA Club World Cup, in the same month that Saudi company Surj Sports Investment bought an interest in them for the same figure, and the same month that Saudi -Arabia was declared the World Cup of 2034.

At that time, and with that financing, Dazn collected a huge operation. Their team, quickly compiled for the tournament, consists of experience in world cups, champions competitions and other major sporting events. It is a well -oiled machine.

“When I explain to someone in this industry what we have achieved in this time frame, they think I’m angry,” says Simon Corney, senior executive producer of Dazn for the tournament. “I’ve never worked on anything like that.”

Dazn and IMG believe that this renewed club world cup is worth viewing – and a treasure chest with engagement opportunities.

A reporter, camera operator and producer is stationed with all 32 teams and their content production goes much further than just live broadcast.

They have produced a series called the 32, with regard to quirky functions related to all the clubs involved, including on Monterrey’s famous Mascotte Monty, ‘Rabid’ in-house band of Seattle Sounders and Manchester City and the New York City initiative building in NYC.

Another highlight show, the press, feels like match of the day. The structure and images that restore the games of the day with an expert panel give a similar feeling like the BBC favorite, but there are ways in which it is unique.

The show is refreshing in using a tactic board to stimulate the analysis, while the experts often respond to questions that are submitted by viewers on social media.

Stimulating the interactivity of the public feels an important value for Dazn in their project. The app has a ‘fan zone’ function where supporters from all over the world can communicate via text while viewing a game – not that the entries in the chat are always the most constructive.

Their broadcasts go out in 15 languages, with breaks around the world simultaneously to the second and counted by one employee with a particularly high pressure role.

Although available almost worldwide, Dazn regards its core markets as in the VK, the US, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Canada, Belgium, Portugal and Taiwan, and these nations mainly offer customized content.

On competition day there are around 35 cameras in every stadium. In the United States, eight comment pairs stay together – in addition to a pitchside reporter – in the conviction that living in narrow neighborhoods is better built on the screen.

For the time being, the analysis and punditry – in which figures are involved such as Ronaldo Nazario, John Obi Mikel and Shay – will be done on IMGs Stockley Park Base. From the quarterfinals, however, all Punditry on site in the United States is done to increase the production value and better catch the taste of the atmospheres.

Dazn also wants to bleed the next generation of experts. Newcastle striker Callum Wilson, new at the Punditry game, was brought on board on Wednesday and will meet Postsport on Wednesday for the 2-0 win of Manchester City at Wydad AC.

His potential bosses were impressed by how he had come across in interviews and on social media.

“The first thing you look, you see that he has something,” says Corney. “He is not afraid to speak his opinion. He is calm, collected and played at the highest level.

‘There is nothing better than having a current Premier League football player in your talent grid because they just talk at the moment. You have to renew the talent pool – you don’t want the same old heads. You need a mix. ‘

And why did Wilson choose the Club World Cup to bend his punditry?

‘It’s just the excitement of it, teams that play against each other for the first time in their history. There are clearly the financial rewards for the smaller clubs involved and a platform for players to show their talent. Many players eventually want to play in Europe, so it’s a great opportunity for them.

‘If someone who looks from afar, it’s fun. It was crazy to cover the Boca Juniors Benfica game, then you will see the 10-0 with Bayern Munich and Auckland City, which made their name out of it.

“It reminds me of FIFA, you know when you play at random selection teams and suddenly it is random matches that you will never have, but in a competitive environment.”

During the tour of Mail Sport, Dazn emphasizes the need for innovation – they want this to be a broadcaster experience like no other.

The jury is still in that area, and Dazn does not really answer when Mail Sport asks for which innovations they are proud, but broadcasters are often mandatory for the authorities. A new function this time is the referee camera, mounted on the referee’s ear, who gives a unique perspective for repetitions, but that requires approval of the International Football Association Board.

Half-time interviews bring fans even closer to the promotion and are more common in the American sports market, although there is a debate or athletes should give up when they have to be ‘in the zone’.

Dazn has done a good job and their level of care. We ask Corney if they have looked to implement AI in their work process, but he gives a passionate defense of the use of people for the important tasks.

Height packages are still cut with a human eye, for example. “I am not willing to have our name and reputation in addition to a set of waste height points,” says Corney.

‘If you get an AI software to cut highlights, you must have a human control that it has not built up. So you might as well have a person done. There is no replacement. ‘

However, they lean on AI for some tasks. All interviews are translated using a software called Limecraft, which uses automatic speech recognition (ASR) and Neural Machine Translation (NMT) to subtitle them in the languages ​​needed for their global audience.

Undoubtedly, the biggest task is to revise the public perception of a tournament that has usually been a procession for European teams. Only 3,412 fans lived Mamelodi Sundowns vs Ulsan Hyundai at – Quite far from Gianni Infantino’s vision on ’63 Super Bowls in one month ‘. Even Chelsea only pulled 22,137 against coward, making nearly 50,000 seats empty.

Ultimately, the level of appetite for the club World Cup is a question that only the public can answer. Dazn and IMG have done everything to appeal – there is even a package of Lionel Messi height points for each game, directly from his exit, for the particularly obsessed viewers.

It is difficult to see how their rivals in Sky Sports, TNT Sports or Amazon would have done much better.