London, 19 July 2023 – London, United Kingdom – Supponor ®, the world’s leading virtual advertising technology solution provider in sports, and GRUP MEDIAPRO, the world’s leading TV production and marketing rights agency in the sports and entertainment industry, today announced the long term renewal of their long-standing partnership.
This agreement further cements the decade-long partnership between Supponor and GRUP MEDIAPRO; underlining Supponor’s most enduring commercial relationship and recognizing GRUP MEDIAPRO as a true innovator and pioneer in the adoption of Virtual Advertising technologies in top-tier football.
Under this partnership, Supponor and GRUP MEDIAPRO have completed the transition to Supponor’s AIR® technology. This platform has been broadly adopted by leading sports rights holders worldwide. The software-only, AI-based solution allows GRUP MEDIAPRO to cost-effectively scale the deployment of Virtual Advertising for both Virtual LED Replacement and Virtual Cam Carpets in 358 La Liga matches, including FC Barcelona home matches, each season with up to twelve virtually enabled feeds distributed globally.
Supponor AIR® is deployed fully remotely from GRUP MEDIAPRO’s new virtual Master Control Room (MCR) at Imagina, in Barcelona, during all LaLiga games, supporting virtual operations in up to ten concurrent games. The virtually modified feeds are distributed to international broadcasters from the same Imagina MCR. Supponor AIR® is fully software-based and driven by cutting-edge technological innovations such as Computer Vision, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML). Its fully remote nature means it eliminates the need for any on-site operations at the venue – making for more advanced, scalable and commercially valuable production which has a lower carbon footprint than traditional on-site production methods.
“GRUP MEDIAPRO is our longest serving client and strategic partner at the same time, so we are extremely pleased to commit for a second decade of mutually successful partnership together,” said Massimo Magrì, EMEA Managing Director, and Global Head of Football, at Supponor. “Together with GRUP MEDIAPRO, we will be expanding our collaboration to multiple sports properties in Spain and beyond. We will fully exploit the full potential of the Imagina MCR for other business opportunities operated by GRUP MEDIAPRO, as a hub to deploy Supponor AIR® during other sporting events globally. By transitioning to Supponor AIR®, GRUP MEDIAPRO and Supponor can actively engage with other GRUP MEDIAPRO properties in football, and beyond, in other locations to enhance GRUP MEDIAPRO’s current and future marketing rights and production business.”
Supponor and GRUP MEDIAPRO’s 10-year-long strategic partnership has delivered the successful rollout of commercially valuable virtual advertising technologies, which are crucial in driving innovation for LaLiga and its brand partners.
“Our long history in championing innovation and track record of proven commercial success ensured we were very keen to renew our valuable partnership,” said Julian Fernandez, Chief Commercial Officer. “GRUP MEDIAPRO has the longest track-record in the commercial exploitation of sports marketing rights through Virtual Advertising technologies, and considers Supponor AIR® currently the best turnkey solution considering quality, performance, commercial value, scalability and sustainability. Supponor is the market leader in virtual advertising, while we lead the sports and entertainment TV production and marketing sector; so, this partnership perfectly leverages the synergies between the two companies. We have proved that. We look forward to both parties building on that legacy for many years to come.”
Supponor AIR® was commercially launched in 2021. By the beginning of the 2022/23 season, Supponor had fully transitioned from legacy hardware-based technologies to a fully software-based platform and no longer deploys, markets or utilizes the now-retired hardware-based solution.
Supponor AIR® has been adopted all over the globe by world-leading sports properties such as Italy’s Serie A, the German Bundesliga, and outside of football by the NHL ice hockey league in North America. GRUP MEDIAPRO has undergone the same journey by adopting Supponor AIR® from the 2021/22 LaLiga season.
About Supponor
Supponor has been the market leader in the virtual advertising industry for the past decade, proven in live broadcast environments in thousands of top-tier sports events worldwide. Supponor AIR®, launched in 2021, is a fully software-based technology platform that relies on leading-edge Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) approaches to deliver authentic virtual placement or replacement advertising live, on any surface, in any sport, at any venue, and in any weather condition. Supponor’s virtual advertising solutions have been trusted by rights holders in top-tier sports leagues across football, hockey, basketball, rugby, cricket and a host of other top sports. Supponor is headquartered in London and has its core R&D base in Helsinki, with regional offices in Barcelona, Milan, Cologne, New York, Toronto, and Sydney. Additional information: www.supponor.com.
About GRUP MEDIAPRO
GRUP MEDIAPRO is a leading group in the European audiovisual sector, unique in the integration of audiovisual content, production, and distribution. With a presence in 31 countries, the group produces more than 15,000 events around the world each year and provides the creativity and technical solutions necessary to design, produce and distribute any multichannel audiovisual project in any corner of the globe.
GRUP MEDIAPRO participates in the production of several national and international events and in the production of 13 top-tier national soccer leagues around the world, including leagues in Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Mexico, Colombia, Bolivia, Honduras, Turkey and Angola. In Europe, GRUP GRUP MEDIAPRO produces and distributes the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League and UEFA Nations League.
