K League 1, the top-tier Korean football league, will begin its postponed season this Friday with a global match broadcast live to social media using Grabyo. 

K League will use Grabyo’s cloud video platform to produce and deliver the season opener between Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors and Suwon Samsung Bluewings to its YouTube and Twitter channels on Friday at 7pm (KST).K League will be the first major football league to resume action after postponements and cancellations due to the COVID-19 health pandemic. 

With current restrictions on public gatherings, only essential personnel will be present at the match. Grabyo’s cloud-native live production platform will enable K League’s team to work remotely and safely from anywhere in the world, collaborating in real-time to deliver the match broadcast. 

Renowned commentator Simon Hill will be calling the match completely remotely, using Grabyo’s remote contribution capabilities. Hill is based in Australia and will be able to appear on the broadcast using a laptop/PC with a microphone. 

K League’s production set up may act as a blueprint for other sporting events across the world to resume during the current health pandemic. 

Elliot Renton, Senior Director and Head of APAC at Grabyo, commented: “This is a significant step forward for football and it’s fantastic to see sport begin to resume in Asia. Many football fans will be delighted to see this happening and Grabyo is very proud to play a key part in making this happen and delivering the live game to a worldwide audience. We have been helping sports organizations and broadcasters to engage fans in a time of no sport, and with new developments to our live and remote production capabilities the K-League are well placed to win new audiences keen to see live football via social media.”

Doojin Sa, Head of New Media, K League, added: “We are excited to be able to again deliver live sport to football fans across Asia and the world. We are doing so with safety as our main priority, using all of the technology at our disposal to ensure only essential personnel need to be in the stadium. Grabyo’s platform and technology will enable us to reach football fans all over the world who we know have been waiting a long time to see live football. Without this type of remote production, it would not be possible.”

K League will use Grabyo Producer, Grabyo’s advanced live production platform, to deliver the match broadcast. Using Grabyo, K League’s digital team is able to deliver the broadcast directly to its social channels, using only a laptop and internet connection anywhere in the world.