UK broadcaster, BT Sport has cut carbon emissions by a quarter by broadcasting a recent UEFA youth game between Tottenham Hotspur and Sporting CP, using cloud technologies.

Working with UEFA to support their football sustainability strategy 2030, BT sport produced the match broadcast with most crew members working remotely, leaving only a skeleton crew to operate cameras and other equipment.

Shown live to BT Sport customers and sent out as the world feed to UEFA member partners, it was not solely a closed trial, a fact that BT sport says showcases the reliability of the approach.

BT Sport has acknowledged how this approach allows for more content innovation and an enhanced workforce diversity thanks to the resources cloud and remote work frees up.

The broadcaster points to England’s 2019-20 National League, where remote production allowed highlight shows to be viable for this level of football for the first time, raising the profile of the league.

Commenting on the innovation while speaking with SportsPro, BT Sport chief engineer, Andy Beale, said: “This is a significant reduction.”

“We’ve done similar things with 5G so we thought we would try and marry that with cloud production to eliminate a lot of infrastructure,” he said

When producing a broadcast in this way, mobile production vehicles, satellite transmission equipment, and a large generator are, all of which which usually need to be shipped from venue to venue, is no longer necessary, instead, BT Sport transmits the raw content using either 5G or fixed connectivity, where it can be accessible for sound, graphics and instant replay production through commercially available laptops and a home WiFi connection.

Continuing, Beal added: “We require a team of just seven people who in theory could be located anywhere, but our studios in Stratford have plenty of space and good quality internet.”

“It reduced the carbon generated by the production and this team could produce one match in the afternoon and then another in the evening,” he said.

This new effort for sustainability follows UEFA’s recent announcement of a partnership with Lega Serie A to collaborate and support work towards sustainability in football.