Innovation in sports media

This award recognises new ways media connects audiences with sport. A strong emphasis is on unique approaches that can attract new audiences to sport, engage audiences and encourage people to become more active in sport. This may include a combination of interactive graphics, use of social media, multimedia, audio, animation and live interaction, crowd-sourcing and models of distribution.

2020 Winner

‘Fox Sports Audio, Virtual Crowd and Flying Fox Camera’, Fox Sports Australia

Fox Sports developed a Virtual Crowd solution when fans were unable to attend live matches post the COVID-19 lockdown. The Virtual Crowd rode the highs and lows of the game with up to 45 unique options available for each code. It was recognised globally with collaboration sought from international broadcasters. Fox Audio also developed a mic solution on the Flying Fox Camera that enabled cricket commentators to speak with players on the ground during the game.

Finalists

David Mark, Jack Fisher, Alex Palmer and Stephen Hutcheon, ‘The Science of Running’, ABC

Running is one of the most basic and natural forms of human movement, but as it has become more popular, the volume of advice and information about how to run has multiplied exponentially. Using data from an elite Olympic runner and an average recreational runner, David Mark and producers from the ABC Digital Innovation team, opens in a new tab worked with the New South Wales Institute of Sport to break down the running process. The story combined advanced video capture technology with innovative digital production techniques.

‘Siren: A Women in Sport Collective’, Siren Sport

Launched in January 2020, Siren: A Women in Sport Collective, opens in a new tab aims to elevate women’s voices, alongside other diverse and marginalised voices to deliver feminist content that challenges the status quo of sport media. The platform enables passionate women’s sports fans to contribute to the initiative through crowd sourcing and merchandise sales. This allows Siren to renumerate its all-female and gender non-binary contributors, in a bid to abolish the free labour model many women in sport face.

Cody Atkinson, James Coventry, Sean Lawson, Jack Snape, ‘AFL and NRL analysis for ABC Sport’, ABC Sport

The Australian sporting audience got closer than ever to the how and why of AFL and NRL in 2020. By analysing datasets never before available to journalists, the ABC team pulled apart the forces at play in the country's top sporting codes. They cross-referenced findings with videos of in-game action - the forward entries, the try assists, the one-on-one contests, the grubber kicks to create the ABC Sport’s weekly analysis articles, opens in a new tab which combined data, video and accessible copy with compelling visualisations.