The thrill of attending a UCF home football game at Bright House Networks Stadium is an exhilarating experience. For 100 fans attending this Saturday’s game vs SMU, the experience will be raised to new heights thanks to a client company of the UCF Business Incubation Program [1].
In partnership with UCF Athletic [2]s, imediaReach® [3]
will demonstrate its LiveEventTV™ product to a select group of preregistered ticketholders during the game. These fans will simply download a special app to their smart mobile device, plug in a small antenna and receive multi-channel live HDTV content from the game, along with bonus coverage including play-by-play from both teams’ radio broadcasts, statistics and other content. And, as if that isn’t impressive enough, these channels are available without eating into fans’ data plans.
“Thanks to LiveEventTV, every seat in any venue becomes the best seat in the house,” said Gary Bonner, co-founder of Winter Springs-based imediaReach. “Today’s sports fans want to see and know everything that is happening on the field. Until now, they had to choose between attending the live event or watching the broadcast at home. Now, fans can literally have it all.”
The company uses UHF rather than cellular or WiFi to deliver live multi-channel HDTV to the fan’s smart mobile device. As such, LiveEventTV can handle a stadium full of users without any negative impact to network capacity and broadcast performance. The technology essentially provides sports and concert venues the opportunity to deliver closed circuit live broadcasts to every smart mobile device-equipped fan. LiveEventTV has been tested at several collegiate sports and professional golf events, with several more live demos anticipated this year.
“We’ve seen LiveEventTV in action a few times now and we’re excited about providing our fans with a demonstration of the service,” said Zack Lassiter, UCF Senior Associate Athletics Director. “There is real potential for LiveEventTV to change the in-venue experience for fans. We’re excited about helping to develop and display that potential.
“We’re also proud to be working with a local company and a client of the UCF Business Incubation Program,” Lassiter added. “UCF is known as America’s Partnership University and this is just another example of that spirit of partnership.”
“If you happen to be sitting away from where the action is taking place or you look the wrong way at the wrong time, you could miss something big,” said Bonner. “Plus at the live event, you miss out on all expert commentary and stats that typically accompany a live broadcast. LiveEventTV can deliver all this live TV action and more.”
As a small company working to productize its technology, imediaReach has greatly benefited from the UCF Business Incubation Program, an award-winning program that has helped hundreds of local startup companies reach their potential faster by providing vital business development resources.
“Thanks to the program, we didn’t have to worry about the logistics or other resource-intensive items related to setting up the physical space,” said Bonner. “In addition, the program has also provided valuable contacts. This assistance has allowed our team members to concentrate on what they do best—developing the technology and launching the product.”