May 28, 2022. Stade de France, Paris. Real Madrid vs. Liverpool for the fourteenth European Cup.
This article details the broadcast deployment that was executed to provide field-level coverage for the 2022 Champions League Final. A ten-camera audiovisual production chain, with replay systems, video processors, fiber converters, encoding and network redundancy, and the technical level of demands that only the final of the world's biggest club competition can impose, enbex developed the technique in collaboration with external TV networks.
The Champions League Final: The Most Demanding Event in World Football
There is no football match with more media pressure than the Champions League Final. The global audience far exceeds that of any other club sporting event. In the 2022 edition, the numbers broke records: over 700 million viewers worldwide, according to UEFA data.
The match was played at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, with a full house in the stands. It was the first final with full capacity after the pandemic restrictions. Real Madrid, managed by Carlo Ancelotti, faced Jürgen Klopp's Liverpool. A goal from Vinicius Júnior in the 59th minute gave Madrid their fourteenth European Cup.
Within that context, enbex was on the ground. Not as a spectator. As part of the broadcast production chain that brought images to millions of homes in Latin America.
The mobile unit: ten cameras and a complete production control
The heart of the deployment was a mobile production unit equipped to operate at the level a Champions League final demands. Inside, a complete control room managed the feed from ten cameras positioned on the field and at strategic locations in the stadium.
The video mixer, a broadcast-grade Blackmagic ATEM, received all camera sources and allowed the director to switch between them in real-time. Transitions, graphics, and on-screen compositing were managed from this unit. Every camera cut the viewer saw on TNT or on channels in Brazil and Mexico passed through that mixer.
Cameras and Optics: 4K Broadcast Quality
The ten cameras in the deployment operated with.
The camera positions were distributed to cover all relevant angles of the field production: close-ups of players, bench reactions, entrances and exits from the tunnel, flash interviews, and crowd atmosphere. Each position was designed to bring specific narrative value to the broadcast.
Instant replay systems
In a Champions League final, replays are an essential part of the commentary. Every important play needs to be seen from multiple angles and at different speeds. To achieve this, the mobile unit had a professional replay system that continuously recorded all camera feeds.
The replay operator could retrieve any play in seconds, select the most revealing angle, and send it to the program at whatever speed the director decided. All in real-time, without interrupting the flow of the broadcast. This type of system is standard in major sports productions, but operating it with the agility that a final demands requires impeccable coordination between the director, the replay operator, and the rest of the team.
The signal chain: processors, fiber converters, and redundancy
Between the camera and the viewer's screen is a chain of equipment that processes, transports, and encodes the video signal. In a field broadcast production at the Stade de France, that chain is long and each link must function without fail.
Fiber optic signal transmission
Cameras located at long distances from the production control were connected via fiber optic converters. The SDI video signal coming from the camera is converted to fiber at the point of origin and reconverted to SDI at the control room. In this way, the signals travel hundreds of meters without loss of quality, something that copper cannot guarantee at those distances.
Each fiber converter had its backup. If one module failed, the secondary would automatically take over. In a Champions League final, you can't lose a camera signal because a converter breaks down. Redundancy at this level is what separates a professional production from one that simply aspires to be.
Video processors
Before reaching the mixer, the signals passed through video processors that adjusted format, colorimetry, and synchronization. When working with ten cameras in different positions and lighting conditions, the signals do not arrive identically at the control room. The processors equalize these differences so that the director can cut between cameras without jumps in color or exposure.
Additionally, these units perform format conversion when necessary. If a source arrives in a standard different from the production system, the processor adapts it in real-time to be compatible with the ATEM mixer and the rest of the chain.
Redundant encoding for broadcast
Once the program signal was finalized in the production control room, it was sent to the encoding system. The main encoder compressed the signal in real time and transmitted it via the SRT protocol to the receiving networks: TNT, the Brazilian broadcasters, and the Mexican broadcasters. The following section explains in detail why the choice of SRT in 2022 was a pioneering decision.
As with any mission-critical production, the encoder had a backup unit ready to go into service instantly. If the primary failed, the secondary would take over seamlessly.
In total, more than 35 million viewers received that signal. Every frame they saw passed through the chain that enbex set up and operated at the Stade de France.
Redundant Internet and SRT Protocol: When Telecommunications Make Broadcast Possible
This is where the project takes on a dimension that very few audiovisual production companies can cover. Because any production company with good equipment can set up cameras, an ATEM, and a replay system. However, designing and operating the internet infrastructure that transports that signal to the viewers requires telecommunications knowledge that belongs to another world.
enbex set up a fully redundant internet system for field operations. Two access links with different providers. Active load balancing between both. And automatic failover so that if one failed, the other would absorb all traffic without a visible interruption. In a final with 35 million viewers waiting for the signal, losing the connection was not an option.
SRT: pioneers in a standard that had just landed
The video signal transport to the receiving chains was carried out using the SRT (Secure Reliable Transport) protocol. In 2022, SRT was a standard that was just beginning to be adopted in real productions. Originally developed by Haivision, it had been released as open source shortly before, and the broadcast industry still viewed it with caution.
enbex bet on SRT when most of the sector was still using traditional contribution methods. The reason was clear: SRT allows for broadcasting-quality video to be sent over the internet by compensating for packet loss, jitter, and latency variations in real-time. In other words, it turns an internet connection – with all its imperfections – into a reliable link for live television.
Using SRT in the 2022 Champions League Final was a bold decision. There weren't many precedents for this protocol in productions of this scale and criticality. But enbex's expertise in both telecommunications and audiovisual production allowed for its implementation with all the necessary guarantees: configuring latency and buffer parameters adapted to the actual link conditions, AES encryption to protect the signal, and continuous monitoring of the protocol's performance throughout the broadcast.
The synergy that makes the difference
This point is key to understanding what makes enbex different. In most productions, the audiovisual company sets up the cameras and the control room. Then, a different company handles the network and connectivity. Both work in parallel, sometimes without fully understanding each other.
In the Champions League final, everything was under the same team. The technicians setting up the SRT encoder were the same ones who had dimensioned the internet links. The people adjusting the protocol's latency parameters knew exactly how much bandwidth the program signal needed. And those monitoring the network knew what each fluctuation meant for the image quality seen by 35 million people.
That synergy between telecommunications and audiovisual production is not improvised. It's built project by project. And at the Stade de France, with Real Madrid's fourteenth European Cup at stake, that was exactly what made everything work.
To work on the field in a Champions League final
Working on the ground at the Champions League Final is unlike any other event. UEFA's security level is extreme. Access points are meticulously controlled. The available space for production teams is limited and shared with dozens of broadcasters from around the world.
The setup is executed within very strict time windows that UEFA defines in advance. There is no flexibility. If your team isn't ready at the scheduled time, you don't broadcast. It's that simple. For that reason, every cable, every converter, and every connection is prepared and tested long before arriving at the stadium.
During the match, the technical team operates under a tension that goes beyond the professional. You know that millions of people are watching what comes out of your mobile unit. You know that a technical failure during Vinicius's goal minute would mean losing an unrepeatable image. That pressure is managed with preparation, with redundancy at every point in the chain, and with a team that has worked together long enough to react without needing to speak to each other.
What does this reference mean
There are many audiovisual production events. Conferences, festivals, sporting competitions, trade shows. However, the Champions League Final is in a league of its own. Literally. It is the most-watched club event on the planet. And enbex was there, operating pitchside, with its own mobile unit, delivering signal to over 35 million viewers.
It's a fact that doesn't need embellishment. It's a fact that speaks for itself about enbex's technical level and operational capacity in top-tier broadcast production.
Technical specifications
Event: 2022 UEFA Champions League Final. Real Madrid 1 - Liverpool 0. Stade de France, Paris.
Audience More than 700 million viewers worldwide. More than 35 million through the signal produced by enbex for TNT, Brazil, and Mexico.
Cameras: 10 field-level camera positions with broadcast lenses. Coverage of players, benches, tunnel, flash interviews, and atmosphere.
Realization: Mobile unit with Blackmagic ATEM mixer. Instant replay systems. Video processors for color correction, formatting, and synchronization.
Signal transmission Fiber optic converters with redundancy for long distances. SDI signal between nearby equipment.
Encoding and distribution Main encoder + backup. SRT protocol for broadcast signal transport over IP. Distribution to DTT, Brazilian networks, and Mexican networks.
Telecommunications Redundant internet with two providers, load balancing, and automatic failover. On-site design, operation, and monitoring of the entire network infrastructure.
Result: Complete uninterrupted match broadcast. Sideline coverage with broadcast quality for over 35 million viewers.
Does your production require true broadcast quality and a team that has already operated at the highest level? Contact enbex. We were on the ground at the Champions League Final.