Fanvision enhances Presidents Cup
BY Bruce Young | US PGA Tour | 2011 The Presidents Cup | General | 11 Oct 2011
Imagine yourself sitting at the back of the 3rd green of the Presidents Cup layout at Royal Melbourne during this year’s event and from behind the 4th green comes a huge spectator reaction which, by its sheer volume, tells you that something good is happening for the International Team.
The only problem is that while you are not all that far as the crow flies from the action by the time you walked or had even run the 250 metres or so through the trees to get to the source of the noise the players involved would have moved on.
This is a situation that will arise on many occasions throughout the week of the Presidents Cup and by Sunday when the Singles are being played and the result is (hopefully) in the balance until well into to the final round it will be hard to know quite which way to turn.
Enter Fanvision, the increasingly accepted means of watching tournament golf and other sports live at a venue via a controller which provides a live video feed, commentary and all the stats you will need to keep up with the action as it happens.
I had the chance to experience Fanvision for the first time this year when interviewing the Australian players for Network Ten at the US Open. Being forced to spend time in the interview area awaiting players as they finished their rounds, the concern was how I would keep up with their progress between when I had last seen their scores in the media centre and when they had actually finished.
It was then that I was alerted to the fact that Fanvision was being made available to members of the media and quite honestly it saved the day.
So what exactly is it? Fanvision is the facility to watch your sporting event while at the game or at a tournament. But it offers a lot more than that and in my opinion, for those who fork out the $20 bucks to rent one each day, will introduce a whole new dimension to the experience of Presidents Cup week.
Take the example mentioned earlier of being caught behind the 3rd green at Royal Melbourne while all the action appears to be happening elsewhere. There could well be a tendency to chase your tail as you tried in keep up with the action.
The ability to have a screen, where multiple cameras provide action from several different areas, at your fingertips is a new way to watch tournament golf in this country. Live scoring is also available and where so many matches are happening at the one time it offers a great way to keep up with the action and the ever changing state of play.
It is hard to imagine a better type of event to fully utilise the benefits of this concept than the Presidents Cup. With each and every match so crucial to the outcome then there is a lot to come to terms with as a spectator.
The units themselves weigh around half a kilogram and measure approximately 1½ times the size of an iphone. They come with a lanyard so you can wear them around the neck and have battery life of around 6 hours.
The units will be rented out each day with those monies going to a charity. The over-riding sponsor, Citibank, is wearing the cost of bringing the system to the event. “It is going to be available on course for a charitable donation,” said Fanvision’s Matt Lukens.
“You, as a user of the device, can select which camera you wish to go to but the main audio will continue. We receive what is what we called a marquee feed as the primary feed but we will also have the facility to bring in other cameras from various vantage points around the course as we will have a production truck on the course.”
“We did the Presidents Cup two years ago and last year we did the Ryder Cup and Fanvision is really perfect for match play because with so much going on no-one can really figure out just who the hell is ahead. This allows you to keep track.
“At the Presidents Cup in San Francisco Greg Norman was the International Captain and I sauntered up to his driver and handed him one of the units. A little while later I get a call back asking for twenty more units for his team. Then I get a call from Fred Couples saying that the Internationals had this system and they would also like twenty units.”
The screen itself on each unit is around 4.3 inches diagonally, the unit over all is about 3.1 inch high and 6½ long. It weighs about a half kilo.
The content available will include all live scoring, overall scoring, player profiles and as much information as you need to keep up with play.
The Presidents Cup this year has the potential to offer the best of both worlds – the chance to attend the event live and enjoy what is sure to be an electric atmosphere while at the same time enjoying many of the comforts you experience while slumped at home watching it ‘on the box’.
Fanvision is owned by the owner of the Miami Dolphins, Stephen Ross, who when seeing it in action at a Dolphins game liked it so much he bought the company.
Be aware however that the 3000 or so units available will be in great demand so it may pay to get in early each day.
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