Sportzcast Supports Sprawling World Softball Tournaments With IP-Camera-based Solution

Sportzcast’s IP-Camera-based streaming solution has enabled USA Softball and the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) to stream 1080P HD video live from three world softball championships taking place across 15 different fields simultaneously in Clearwater, FL.

The broadcasts are complete with automated graphic score overlays delivering scoreboard data direct from each field’s scoreboard. The remarkable technology allowed for the broadcast of over 200 live games to be managed remotely by a single operator.

From July 17 – July 30, USA Softball is hosting 3 championship softball tournaments on 15 fields spread across 4 different venues in a 5-mile radius. The WBSC 19-Under world championships, USA Softball Gold 18-Under, and Gold 16-Under US Championships brought 112 teams to the venues over those 13 days. Daily during the tournaments, fans from around the world have been able to tune in & select any field to view a live feed from TeamUSA.org or WBSC.org.

The feat was accomplished via a combination of Sportzcast’s new native integration with Axis Communications’ IP Cameras and the brand new Sportzcast Wireless Scorebot. An Axis IP camera was mounted directly onto the backstop of each field, connected & powered solely via a PoE Cat5 cable, allowing for an incredibly clean & efficient installation. Scorebots were installed in the venue press boxes and received scoreboard data wirelessly from each field. Using the Sportzcast Overlay Control Portal, a custom graphic template was remotely uploaded into each camera & overlaid with live scoreboard data from the corresponding field. The end result was an RTMP 1080p HD video feed with automated graphic score overlays encoded & streamed direct from each field’s camera.

This turnkey solution allowed for complete coverage of all 200 games of the tournaments by a single operator. Utilizing Sportzcast’s Overlay Control Portal, the operator is able to remotely start & stop every camera, control & assign streaming information and design custom graphic overlays from a single web interface.