Agence France-Presse (AFP) has just rolled out a lush package of multimedia tools, for use by a wide range of organizations that deal with big-time sports. The Beijing Olympics and EURO 2008 are targeted in a timely way, but dozens of other sports are covered.
Where to start in describing the offering?
Why not just draw from their presentation ….
FLASH APPLICATIONS for customers’ Websites, offering full live coverage of the competition, with ad functionalities and customization features, and 35+ embedded videos.
34 SPORTS ANIMATIONS showing the processes and procedures of each sport, operating on the Web or televsion, and available in many languages.
FULLY DEDICATED WEBSITES, including live matches and results, top stories, athlete bios, historical information, and photos in a real-time, ready-to-publish format.
VIDEO SERVICE: EURO: 35+ VIDEOS- Featured content, on-site reports, fan interviews and more; BEIJING: 60+ VIDEOS – delivered in Web-ready or broadcast format; 4 languages available.
RAW XML CONTENT FOR WEBSITES – All the content from AFP’s ready-to-publish Web applications is available in raw XML feeds, allowing the building of unique EURO & BEIJING websites with AFP’s Web content. Also available: team presentations, illustrated biographies, full live results feeds, etc.
LIVE TICKERS, in the form of live Flash modules which deliver the latest results and standings, calendars of the matches/competitions, and real-time results.
TRADITIONAL PRODUCTS, e.g., Euro: 500-700 photos per day, and Beijing: 800-1400 photos per day, 80 to 100 dispatches per day, and 60 to 75 graphics throughout the competition.
Check out AFP’s Sports Web page for a complete and integrated look at this, along with some links to the real thing; it is very impressive.
Which, of course, makes us look forward to the day when all of the high-cost development investment will be recouped through the cash floods of EURO 2008 and Beijing, and these tools will be available to multisport federations and race/series directors.
Take a look at the demo on swimming and let your mind wander to the day when the complexities of triathlon will be explained through a downloadable package supplied by USA Triathlon, or your favorite race director. Or when any given Ironman event within WTC’s universe can be enjoyed 24/7 before, during, and after with immense amounts of historical context — along with, of course, clear explanations of what is going on and why.
This is good stuff.
MultisportBiz 
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