HBS Delivers On Behalf Of UEFA At Another Successful UEFA Euro

The trophy lift in Berlin marked the end of UEFA EURO 2024, the sixth consecutive edition of the tournament for which HBS has delivered services to UEFA.

Taking place between 14 June and 14 July, with 51 matches across 10 host cities, HBS’ scope at this edition for UEFA included International Broadcast Centre (IBC) infrastructure,  broadcast infrastructure, commentary services and staff management services.

IBC Infrastructure

All temporary broadcast-related structures at the International Broadcast Centre (IBC), hosted in Hall 4 of the Leipziger Messe in Leipzig, were delivered by HBS on behalf of UEFA. This mission involved the assembly of all temporary IBC facilities, beginning at the start of April, including Broadcast Power, HVAC and fire prevention installations and the day-to-day management of the site during the event.

The design of the IBC was focused on limiting the impact of its set-up on the environment, with several elements meant to be reused for general construction after the event, and others (such as the bespoke temporary air conditioning installation) using rental components.

Meanwhile for Broadcast Power, a sustainable 1MVA redundant UPS supply solution has been implemented, avoiding the use of running generators altogether, significantly reducing the CO2 footprint.

Broadcast Infrastructure

Once the IBC facility was constructed the operations on-site were also covered, with the IBC core system, audio operations, monitoring and intercom systems installed and managed by HBS teams.

Managing the host broadcast adaptation equipment that caters for signal exchange between each Stadium and the IBC, while the Master Control Room (MCR) and feeds distribution were delivered through a fully redundant IP infrastructure. This IP set-up reduced installation time and increased scalability and flexibility.

Commentary

At venues the Commentary/Audio contribution solution from the venues to the IBC also relied on IP technology, with a similar fully redundant set-up. The overall system consisting of 500 IP Commentary units offered a turnkey solution to broadcasters operating at the venue, the IBC or remotely (via IP-codec turnarounds).

Staff Management

Recruitment and management of some specific sections of UEFA’s IBC-based staff also rested with HBS, a service delivered by HBS for UEFA EURO events since the 2004 edition in Portugal.

HBS is proud to have been able to participate in the delivery of the competition and honoured to be counted as a trusted supplier of UEFA, helping to ensure that the event is beamed to football fans across the world.