It's almost like being there

SOCCER:FIRST THE good news. Game 39, the English Premier League's plan to transport its "product" to cash-soaked foreign lands, is officially dead. Now for the alternative, and it is hardly less wacky.

According to Richard Scudamore, the league’s chief executive, overseas supporters are on the verge of being able to experience watching games from English stadiums while sitting on their sofas, thanks to technology that brings Hollywood to the Holte End.

Comparing his new move for world domination to Avatar, Scudamore claims talks are at an advanced stage with Sony and Electronic Arts to create the tools by which subscribers in the Far East and elsewhere could find themselves in the Stretford End or the Shed simply by donning a pair of headphones and settling down in front of their 3D, high-definition television.

“You could be on a Saturday afternoon at 3pm, English time, in Hong Kong deciding whether you want to be at Anfield or at Aston Villa,” said Scudamore. “There’ll be a drop-down menu and you’ll be able to choose where you want to be and watch the game.

“It’ll be like an Avatar-type of thing available in your own home. It might sound pie in the sky, but it’s not. That virtual reality is already there. It’s the sort of thing kids are playing with all the time.”

Scudamore’s scheme may horrify traditionalists but it is, nonetheless, fascinating.

Sony, for instance, plans to deliver “immersion technology” in the form of “Super Wide”, a panoramic shot based on footage caught by several cameras. The resulting images would be stitched together, allowing viewers to pick the watching-angle of their choice, be it from behind the dug-outs, or by a corner flag.

“It’s only between two to five years from being readily available,” said Scudamore. “It’ll certainly happen within my working life.”

Scudamore’s revelations are likely to be met by a mix of ridicule and rage, just as Game 39 was when first touted. Scudamore now describes the idea of playing a Premier League match overseas as “old-fashioned and passe”, and will have further calmed his opponents by insisting the experience is unlikely to be introduced in Britain.

“It’s a global vision, as we wouldn’t do anything in England to undermine the 3pm window,” he said. “But this can become a reality, and it can be produced to satisfy a mass market. This is innovative: the sort of thing we should be doing.”

GuardianService