Sky Creative redesigns Sky Sports studio
September 4, 2023
Sky Creative, Sky’s in-house advertising and creative agency, has designed and delivered a new, arena-shaped studio home for the Sky Sports team. Surrounded by high resolution screens and immersive AR graphics, the studio blends traditional set design and innovative technologies.
Started in early 2022, the project was a close-knit collaboration between design, production and technology teams in both the UK and Italy and soft-launched on August 14th for the iconic Sky Sports programme brand Monday Night Football. Now the studio has been the hub for the US Open tennis as it returns to Sky Sports as the exclusive broadcaster with a fresh new look.
The high-resolution screens act as huge canvases to bring flagship programme brands to life and change the look and feel of the space. The addition of AR graphics creates an immersive space, with an AR stadium canopy above a ‘fourth wall’ that conceals camera positions to create a 360 degree filming environment. The studio boasts an array of cameras including a jib and a wire cam, offering a range of dynamic shooting opportunities.
Pioneering sporting analysis is made possible with an enhanced touchscreen featuring 3D virtual game reconstructions, alongside a huge LED floor that gives presenters a canvas to explain tactics and team formations. And that’s just football; there are more deep analysis ideas coming soon with Tennis and F1.
For the US Open tennis, the team have created a new brand identity that embraces the attitude and creativity of the nearby Queens district, with uniquely expressive graphics style based on tagging and urban culture. The studio is designed to elevate the programme identities with screens and AR graphics taking the distinctive new look for the US Open to a deeper level. The AR stadium canopy technology will replicate the Arthur Ashe Stadium and the state-of-the-art tennis analysis has been developed alongside Hawkeye.
Sky’s Group Executive Creative Director – Brand & Design, Ceri Sampson, commented: “We’re incredibly proud of what our teams have achieved here. Sky Sports is now back at the forefront of broadcast innovation, thanks to the skill, dedication and professionalism of the people who collaborated to create it”.
Harry Ward, Creative Director for News & Sport at Sky Creative, added: “It’s been an exciting challenge for our teams over the past 18 months. Now it’s launched, we’re all thrilled seeing it adapt to our sport and programme brands; tennis is vibrant and dynamic, MNF is darker and more analytical. And that’s just the start. It’s a hugely flexible space that and we haven’t even scratched the surface of its potential yet.”