Kylian Mbappe is racing towards goal. As his electric feet propel his body forward, the goalkeeper is in two minds, whether to rush out or wait. Mbappe, for his part, knows exactly what he wants to do. Opening up his body, he goes inside the line of the ball to unleash an arrowing shot that takes a subtle deflection to go narrowly wide of the target. France and Mbappe have announced their arrival at the latest edition of the Euros in Germany, as a depleted Austria hang on by the skin of their teeth.
For the rest of the first half, Mbappe spends an awful amount of time pacing back and forth, lulling his markers into a false sense of security. He gazes at his boots, fixes his kit and occasionally mutters a few things to himself. And then, just when you think he is fading away, he springs into life. With a little more than 37 minutes played in Dusseldorf, Mbappe attacks Austria’s left flank and dances past two defenders as if they were mannequins. As he executes his step-overs and puts on the afterburners before delivering a cross that leads Austria’s Maximilian Wober to put the ball in his own net, I can see Mbappe’s ligaments stretch and his laces flutter. I can notice the height of his shin pads and just how much grass there is on his socks. No, I’m not watching France’s captain in the flesh at the Merkur Spiel Arena. I’m watching him in the comfort of my drawing room on Sony LIV’s mobile app.
‘Football is getting bigger and bigger in India… We want to provide an experience that excites the core fans’
As part of its month-long broadcast of Euro 2024, Sony LIV, which has seen a 50 per cent increase in users since Euro 2020 (held in the summer of 2021), has introduced a series of innovations. The most spectacular among them is the Multi Cam (available only on mobile streaming), which allows you unprecedented variations as a spectator. Apart from the traditional angles, there are two Star Cams, which focus on the biggest names in each team for the entire duration of a game. There are two Dugout Cams, where you can observe the respective coaches react and respond to events on the pitch (I was intrigued to see just how many times France’s coach Didier Deschamps crosses his hands and chews his nails!). And there is also the Tactical Feed, which gives you a top-down, bird’s eye view of proceedings — an excellent angle if you happen to be knee-deep in scrutinising formations.
With 34 per cent of Sony LIV’s users aged between 25 and 34, these new camera angles should be a big hit among early-career professionals who tend to prefer variety in coverage. The fresh features should also help Sony LIV penetrate new markets, with 61.5 per cent of its current user base coming from West Bengal, Maharashtra, Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Delhi.
Aman Srivastava and his team want to provide an experience that does justice to football fans in India Sony Pictures Networks India
“Football is getting bigger and bigger in India and the level of understanding is really high. We want to provide an experience that excites the core fans. Even within the traditional camera angles, we’re going to see many more interesting things this time around, with more focus on fans and the atmosphere, both of which are shaping up to be fantastic in Germany,” says Aman Srivastava, head of marketing and digital business at Sony Pictures Networks India.
Sony not only has variety for the eyes, but also for the ears, with commentary for each Euros match available in six languages — English, Hindi, Bengali, Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam. Alongside the coverage, there is real-time data, giving football fanatics just the tonic they need to pore over every second of the action. “From possession to tackles to shots on target, and much more, we understand and value how much stats and analyses matter to fans,” says Srivastava, adding that “we tried out some of the Euros features during the recently concluded FA Cup final as well as the UEFA Champions League final to great success”.
As always, Key Moments (a trademark feature on Sony LIV) curates highlights during the match with a more extensive highlights package available within minutes of the full-time whistle. A dedicated Euros page on Sony LIV means that there is no dearth of content even when there is no live football, with previews, press conferences and polls keeping viewers engaged throughout.
Most eyes on France, Portugal, England and… the underdog of the tournament
England players celebrate after Jude Bellingham’s goal against Serbia on Sunday Getty Images
“The viewership at the Euros really picks up from the quarter-finals onwards. But we want more and more people to tune in earlier,” shares Srivastava, who unsurprisingly picks France, Portugal and England as the teams likely to draw the greatest numbers. “From what we’ve seen in previous years, the audience can be divided into team followers and star followers. So Mbappe fans will watch France and Cristiano Ronaldo fans will watch Portugal. But a team like Spain will generate interest as a whole, not due to one or two star players in particular… We also have to watch out for the underdog of the tournament (remember Iceland in 2016?!). Generally, there’s one country that becomes everyone’s second favourite team, who punch above their weight and cause a few upsets,” points out Srivastava.
With total viewership up by 64 per cent and live viewership up by a staggering 350 per cent since the last edition of the Euros, Euro 2024 is already generating a buzz. The plethora of options to enjoy the action on Sony LIV is bound to amp up the excitement. After all, witnessing every muscle movement of Mbappe on the pitch with Bengali adjectives peppering his brilliance isn’t something that’s happened before!
