HOW AI HELPED PUT WOMEN’S FOOTBALL ON THE SAME FOOTING AS THE MEN’S

BACKGROUND

The FAI Women’s National League (WFAI) is the highest level of women’s football in Ireland. The league was established in 2011, and since then has struggled to gain media coverage and support, despite the growing popularity of women’s football globally. Historically, Irish women’s football faced unequal treatment, both on and off the field. Limited exposure, and disparity in resources hindered the growth and development of the sport, making it challenging to attract fans and sponsors.

OBJECTIVE

The FAI Women’s National League aimed to amplify its presence by significantly increasing media coverage, thereby boosting its popularity, and drawing attention to women’s football in Ireland. By increasing exposure, the league sought to attract new fans, sponsors, and investors, paving the way for the growth and development of women’s football across the nation.

CHALLENGE

Despite the growing popularity of women’s football globally, one of the major hurdles faced by the WFAI was the lack of proper infrastructure for capturing and broadcasting women’s football matches. Traditional broadcasting methods were expensive and often limited to high-profile games, leaving most women’s matches unavailable to fans and unnoticed by sponsors and advertisers. The WFAI needed a solution that could provide comprehensive and consistent coverage for all women’s football games and elevate the visibility of the sport by broadcasting their games to a wider audience.

SOLUTION

To address the lack of media coverage, the FAI partnered with Pixellot, the world leader in automated sports production solutions and created The League of Ireland TV (LOITV) streaming platform. LOITV played a crucial role in promoting the women’s game.

Pixellot’s AI Automated camera technology captured all the action, tracking the players and ball. The footage was then processed in real-time and made available for streaming and on-demand viewing through the LOITV service with graphics, live commentary and highlights. This enabled comprehensive coverage of all premier league women’s football matches, ensuring high-quality streams that fans could access on LOITV.

The women’s league was available for viewers free of charge whereas the men’s league was behind a paywall. This enables the WFAI to cover all games for the entire season and showcase women’s football matches and highlights across various platforms.

OUTCOME

Utilizing the AI-powered cameras to capture and broadcast the matches, Pixellot provided coverage for the top Women’s league and the second Men’s league, both of which received little to no coverage in the past. More than 400 games have been streamed to date from 27 systems, with an impressive 180 games broadcasted using tactical view – including for practices. The partnership between the WFAI and Pixellot transformed women’s football coverage in Ireland, providing comprehensive visibility and promoting gender equality. By featuring women’s football on equal footing with men’s on the LOITV service, previously overlooked games gained exposure, resulting in increased interest, attendance, and media coverage. The implementation of Pixellot’s automated production technology helped create significant progress in the women’s game, including professional contracts for female players.

Today, after three seasons and as a result of the popularity of the women’s league all the games are behind the LOITV paywall and many of them are produced with a full production multicamera staff. Additionally, TG4, a free-to-air channel, went from covering 4 matches every season to 12 matches in the third season of the project, a substantial increase from previous years.

Thanks to the increased investment in the game the women’s national team qualified for the first time to the Women’s World Cup, playing a crucial role in the growth and development of women’s football.

BENEFITS

• Cost-effective solution for capturing and broadcasting leagues
• Eliminates the need for production crews and equipment
• Boost the popularity and potential of women’s sports
• Rich monetization options for new sponsors and advertisers
• Promotes gender equality