Roaring crowds, blinding lights, the smell of sunscreen and hot chips. There is nothing quite like the atmosphere of a sporting event.
Blessed with great weather and wide open spaces, Australia is a lucky country when it comes to playing conditions, and the “Sunshine State” Queensland may just be the luckiest state of them all. Sports are in our blood, and at the heart of our communities. Look no further than your local sports field for proof at any given time of the week – Aussies just love to get outdoors and play!
For many, sporting events conjure fond memories of horns that sound more like air-raid sirens, or crowding around a tiny TV to catch a glimpse of a game’s final minutes. Sinking tinnies from the sidelines in a camping chair and watching your kids across the field with binoculars. Decoding numbers with missing parts on a weathered scoreboard that’s older than the coach.
Nostalgic as sporting events may be, there is no denying that some are in dire need of a tech upgrade. There are a few savvy trailblazers leading the way when it comes to the sporting events experience, and ECKOO LED Media had the pleasure of working with one of these associations – Queensland Touch Football – at the 2020 Festival of Touch.
Held on the Gold Coast over 10 days of sun and fun, this major sporting festival was comprised of 5 events, including the QLD State Cup, All Nations Cup, an Affiliate Conference, Sports Performance Conference, and Schools Gala Day. The Festival saw over 10,000 attendees from across the State through its gates.
The ECKOO LED Media team worked closely with organisers to elevate this event through the use of our LED panels, touch screens and flagship LED Media Truck, which live streamed the event to spectators.
The LED Media Truck was positioned at the far end of the main playing field, to capture and live stream all the action taking place across several fields. The crisp quality of the truck’s HD P3 LED panels made the games easily visible from as far as 200 metres away, or as close as 3 metres away. A mix of on-field cameras and drone footage captured the event from all angles, captivating on-lookers throughout the Festival. Our free-standing touch screens displayed an event map and program at entry points, making it easy for thousands of attendees to navigate. Indoors at the conferences, our panels were interconnected to form a large presentation screen, and stand-alone panels provided the perfect canvas for dynamic sponsor messages. These powerful screens illuminated the indoor event space at just 15% brightness, and streamed crystal clear visuals through all conditions outdoors.
Organisers were thrilled with the engagement that LED Media brought to this event.
‘It’s been able to lift our event… to this really elite, fantastic festival, which is really what we’re trying to achieve,’ says Rachael Stacey, Sponsorship and Projects Manager at Queensland Touch Football.
‘Being able to have the replays here just creates that more professional environment for our event. It’s definitely moved it from a weekend of touch to an outstanding event that I’m sure many people are going to be talking about for weeks and months to come afterwards.’
From a sponsorship perspective, the use of LED Media to display partner messaging has been a game-changer.
‘We’re able to have ads occurring in front of everyone at the event,’ says Rachael.
‘Normally we can only do that for our viewers who are at home or post-event. It’s fantastic, we’ve got Major Events Gold Coast and Tourism Events Queensland on as partners at this event, and we get to show them to everyone, while we’re here on-site.’
Queensland Touch is leading a new wave in sport, and LED Media were proud to support this well-organised event. The buzz around our screens was evident throughout the Festival as the LED Media Truck lit up the Cups. It was fantastic to see how the use of technology could elevate the games. The Truck provides an ideal platform to display live streaming, scoreboards, team ladders, social feeds, advertising, and even engage passers-by with gamification.
Looking to take your sporting event up a notch? Get in touch with our team today!
