Premier League plans sci-fi football coverage

A year after games were first broadcast in 3D the Premier League is hatching plans to introduce even more sci-fi sophistication to its coverage of matches, giving fans the opportunity to watch games using interactive "immersion technology" to create an avatar-style viewing experience.

The league's chief executive, Richard Scudamore, says that within five years it will be possible for supporters to sit down in front of their TV, pick a game to watch from the menu, choose where to sit in the stadium, start chatting with friends and then immerse themselves in the match.

The Premier League is already in talks with Sony and EA Sports about bringing such technology to its coverage. Sony is developing super-wide panoramic views that would allow viewers to watch from different angles, while EA is working on 3D holographic technology, initially for highlights packages but which will eventually be used in real time coverage.

"3D is coming along and there have been all these new devices coming on to the scene. There'll soon be a technological development that will allow people across the world to have a much richer type of experience in terms of watching and consuming football," said Scudamore.

"There is 'immersion technology' being developed right now where you can sit down with headphones and a screen, and reproduce the feel of being in a stadium. You can call in your mates to sit next to you and chat to them. If you turn your head one way you're looking at the left-hand goal and the other way you're looking at the right-hand goal. That's in testing now.

"You could be on a Saturday evening in Hong Kong, 3pm in England, deciding whether you want to be on the Kop or the Holte End at Aston Villa. You'll be able to choose where you want to be and watch the game.

"It's only about five years from being readily available. It'll certainly happen within my working life. It'll be like an avatar type of thing available in your own home. It's the sort of thing our kids are playing with all the time. It might seem a bit 'blue sky', but it isn't. Hong Kong is gizmo central, but it will be available everywhere."

His ambitious technological plans have now replaced the much-ridiculed idea of a '39th game', which would have seen the Premier League go on tour to overseas markets.

But Scudamore admitted he was anxious not to detract from the live experience of football. "We want to protect the whole of English football," he said. "I'd rather people were attending the stadia in England, whether it be at Barnet or Arsenal. Anything we did to undermine that would be difficult for me personally and professionally." ·