The hidden studio behind the Premier League’s global broadcasts, and how LoveLove Films’ work is seen around the world

Football is the global sport. It transcends language barriers, territorial boundaries, and even political lines. At its core, football instills in its followers the most basic of tribalistic instincts – which team you support can be a great ice-breaker in social situations; which team you support can lead to awkward encounters in others. And while football is really ‘just a sport’ when all of the pomp and circumstance is stripped away, that its influence saturates so many facets of society speaks volumes about the way it is intrinsically linked with every culture across the globe. There is the famous World War 1 story of the British and German forces laying down their weapons on Christmas Day 1914 to engage in a slightly more friendly skirmish; one not fought with bullets and bombs, but with a ball, 22 men and a common aim – to score goals. A war fought on a different type of battlefield: the football pitch. It is the magic of the sport of football that makes it such a popular product, played and watched by millions of people all over the world, and no professional league competition is as popular and ubiquitous as the English Premier League.

In the UK, major broadcasters such as Sky Sports and BT Sport have the rights to televise Premier League matches sewn up. The BBC’s Match of the Day programs are on hand to deliver highlights and analysis to those without the aforementioned channels, but for the most part if you are a football fan in the UK and wish to view live coverage of Premier League games, you will almost always be viewing output created by Sky or BT. Things get interesting when you consider that the Premier League is beamed to almost every country in the world and almost any game can be watched live, regardless of whether you are in Singapore, Abu Dhabi or Peru. But these games are not broadcast by Sky Sports, BT Sport, BBC or ITV. These games are broadcast to a potential audience of billions by a company you may never have heard of: Premier League Productions.

Video graphic which introduces the AFC Bournemouth Premier League matches

Based in offices near Heathrow, Premier League Productions is a rather secretive arm of the larger IMG media brand and has its own studios along with an army of statisticians, reporters, and analysts. Every Premier League game is broadcast live and the studio-based presentation is anchored by John Dykes, a sports journalist who has found worldwide fame as the face of Premier League Productions’ coverage of English football, but who is a relative unknown in his home country. In short, Premier League Productions is a behemoth of a broadcaster, and one on which millions of football fans around the world rely for their daily fix of football news.

One aspect of Premier League Productions’ broadcasts that is of particular interest is the pre-match build up. Before every game, a short VT sets the scene and gives a feel for the city or town in which the home team are based and adds an air of authenticity for fans who may never have been to Manchester, London, Liverpool…or Bournemouth. For the introductory sequence announcing games to be held at Bournemouth Football Club’s Vitality Stadium, a montage of shots sets the scene: glorious sandy beaches packed with holiday makers, a jet ski rips along the crest of a shimmering wave. A Victorian merry-go-round adds the feel of a traditional seaside resort steeped in history, while aerial shots of the vibrant town centre depict a modern, bustling urban landscape. It’s here that LoveLove Films becomes involved, as several parts of this sequence were provided by us (namely the aerial and drone sections) and are now seen by millions of viewers around the world as they tune in to watch Bournemouth home matches in the Premier League.

External links

IMG Media