Sportradar Selects Level 3 for High-Quality Delivery of Online Video to Sports Fans Worldwide
Level 3 CDN to Enable New Video Streaming Service that Transmits Live Sporting Events with Lag Time of Seven Seconds or Less
Frankfurt am Main / Broomfield, August 7, 2014 – Level 3 Communications, Inc. (NYSE: LVLT) today announced Sportradar, a leading global supplier of sports-related data, has selected Level 3 to support its new online video delivery for live sporting events. Sportradar’s global customer base demanded a video streaming service with minimal interruptions to enjoy every moment of their live event viewing. Level 3’s Content Delivery Network (CDN) will ensure a high-quality end-user experience for Sportradar clients and enable an interruption-free video stream for each of their customers worldwide.
Sportradar serves more than 600 clients in 80 countries across five continents. They will use Level 3’s global network to broadcast several live events simultaneously. With this solution, Sportradar can adjust the service to varying requirements in local markets by transmitting the content to the nearest ingest server and delivering it in different bandwidths per stream.
“Sportradar’s reputation is based on fast and high-quality services,” said Alexander Fryba, managing director product development at Sportradar. “Our Live Channel product innovation ensures that streaming signals for global sporting events reach customers in seven seconds or less—no matter where they are located. With Level 3, we’ve found a business partner that enables us to achieve high levels of quality, while also continuing to satisfy our customers.”
Sportradar differentiates itself on the market by guaranteeing its customers accurate content under the principle “quality before speed.” The company ensures the data is final before delivery. For example, a goal in a football match is only counted once the referee has confirmed it, not when the goal is scored. Sportradar will use Level 3’s CDN based on flash media servers (FMS) to stream live events to viewers via the real-time messaging protocol (RTMP), helping make the seven-second promise possible.
“Many people have experienced the frustration of jittery videos on the Internet – and that can be particularly annoying when they’re following a key match involving their favorite sports team or players,” said Gerald Rubant, sales director, Enterprise Business Germany and Northern Europe at Level 3. “The Level 3 CDN is built to scale to any requirements — even for huge sporting events watched by millions.”
Level 3 CDN services are based on powerful, private connections to major telco and Internet providers. As a result, content has an average of just 1.76 hops to global Internet destinations. The company pairs a robust Internet backbone with advanced and proven content delivery. This makes the service exceptionally reliable while remaining cost effective.
About Sportradar
Sportradar is a leading supplier of sports-related data. Inspired by the passion and vision of a fast-growing staff with independent thinkers, Sportradar has developed into a key player providing all necessary data for the sports media industry, such as fixtures and results, as well as front-end content solutions like statistics and live scores.
Alongside that, with their security services the company works side-by-side with the leading international sport federations including UEFA and the German DFB/DFL. A combination of clever innovations, a strong desire to build quality applications and the ability to provide practical solutions means the venture still thrives today. Today the company is more than ever committed to actively shaping the future through close relationships with its customers. Company founder and CEO Carsten Koerl is the majority shareholder of Sportradar.
Over 600 clients, in more than 80 countries across five continents rely on Sportradar’s quality services and solutions.More information: www.sportradar.com.
About Level 3 Communications
Level 3 Communications, Inc. (NYSE: LVLT) is a Fortune 500 company that provides local, national and global communications services to enterprise, government and carrier customers. Level 3’s comprehensive portfolio of secure, managed solutions includes fiber and infrastructure solutions; IP-based voice and data communications; wide-area Ethernet services; video and content distribution; data center and cloud-based solutions. Level 3 serves customers in more than 500 markets in over 60 countries across a global services platform anchored by owned fiber networks on three continents and connected by extensive undersea facilities. Level 3 services are provided by subsidiaries of Level 3 Communications, Inc. For more information, please visit www.level3.com or get to know us on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.
