Giles Barnes of the Houston Dynamo kicks the corner flag after scoring against the New England Revolution in the second half at BBVA Compass Stadium on Mar. 6, 2016. (Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images)
Fox Sports will debut a new viewing angle during Saturday’s broadcast of the MLS Cup between Atlanta United F.C. and the Portland Timbers. The network is implementing a camera on each of the four corner flags of the pitch at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
The corner flag cameras will provide MLS fans with a new vantage point. Fox Sports will deploy 26 cameras during Saturday’s match, 16 of those manned and 10 unmanned.
“There are probably a finite amount of camera positions left in terms of soccer coverage,” said Michael Davies, Fox Sports SVP of Field and Technical Operations, in a press release. “We have seen the value of pylon cameras in American football from time to time, so we decided to try the corner flags … we’ll look for opportunities to use this new view to enhance our storytelling.”
Coverage of Saturday’s MLS cup can be watched on Fox and the Fox Sports app from 7:30 p.m. ET.
SportTechie Takeaway
MLS also has a streaming partnership with Twitter, which introduced a fan-controlled sideline camera at an MLS match in August. Perhaps the next big camera angle after corner flags could be wearable cameras. Fox Sports equipped referees with GoPro cameras during the 2016 NCAA Big Ten Championship football game, and last year Michael Davies, Fox Sports Senior Vice President, Field & Technical Operations, said wearable cameras could be a big part of future Fox sports coverage.
