Uno Heroes - NZIHL Fan Experience

As one of our Uno Heroes, the New Zealand Ice Hockey League have been instrumental in helping us refine our ice hockey scoreboard and overlays. Established in 2005, the NZIHL is an amateur league – which means everyone, including players, are volunteers. Here’s how their passionate broadcasting team improved their fan’s viewing experience.

Ice hockey is still a minority sport in New Zealand, yet it has a passionate following and a tightknit community. The NZIHL is currently contested by six teams from four affiliated regions, and regularly features “import” players from Europe, North America, Australia and beyond. Teams travel to Queenstown, Dunedin, Christchurch, and Auckland, meaning import players get to travel all around New Zealand.

To reach fans across the country, all games are live streamed free of charge on the NZIHL’s YouTube channel. However, delivering a professional broadcast experience has always been a challenge due to resource constraints. 

As an amateur league with six teams competing in a 50-game regular season, the NZIHL operates with a limited budget and a small but dedicated volunteer crew. Our volunteer live stream operators must set up and pack down all production equipment for every game. 

Additionally, we do not have administrative access to the arena’s network infrastructure, which has limited our ability to explore network-based solutions for seamless integration between our scoreboard and livestream. This made it difficult to achieve the kind of professional setup we aspired to – until we discovered overlays.uno! 

Overcoming limitations with uno overlays

We recently integrated overlays.uno into our production workflow, and the results have been game-changing. 

We needed to allow scorebench officials to operate the official game clock with:

• Real-time control of the game clock as play happens
• The ability to track shots, goals, and other player and team data
• Automatic buzzer sounds when the clock reaches 00:00
• The ability to load penalties in compliance with IIHF rulebook regulations
• The ability to simultaneously output the resulting scorebug to the in-arena projector and the live stream computer

Previously, the ice hockey scoreboard setup in Auckland relied on a dedicated ice hockey scoreboard software software that outputted directly to the in-rink projector. While functional, this had its own significant drawbacks. 

The entire projection screen was used solely for the scoreboard, leaving no room for live replays or player statistics. Plus, the scoreboard software wasn't integrated with the live stream, requiring our production crew to manually operate a separate scorebug on the live streaming computer. This increased the workload on an already small volunteer crew, causing timing inconsistencies and additional stress during broadcasts. 

A new and improved setup

With overlays.uno, the NZIHL has revolutionized our scoreboard and in-rink display system, integrating seamlessly with our vMix production workflow. The final program feed from vMix is then simultaneously displayed on the in-rink projector with minimal latency, and on our YouTube live stream, enhancing the fan experience. 

Here’s how comes together for live streaming live hockey:

1. The live stream computer runs vMix.
2. The score bench volunteer officials control the overlays.uno ice hockey scoreboard via a laptop.
3. We add the overlays.uno score board output to vMix as a browser layer. 
4. vMix combines the overlay and live camera footage into the program feed.
5. vMix outputs the program feed through a Hollyland Pyro H transmitter. 
6. The arena music desk (located on the opposite side of the arena) receives the live feed via the Hollyland Pyro H receiver. 
7. The arena music desk (also where the in-arena projector input plug is located) sends the feed via HDMI to the in-rink projector.
8. The in-rink projector displays the program feed, now displaying the uno overlay, live camera footage, and additional graphics. And, the arena’s sound system receives the overlay’s buzzer, playing an audible alert when the period clock reaches 00:00.

Easier streaming and happier fans

By adding uno’s hockey scoreboard app to our workflow, we’ve made some key improvements:

• Enhanced fan experience. Fans in the arena can now see the same professional broadcast as online viewers, including replays, graphics, and real-time stats. 
• Reduced workload for our hardworking volunteers. The live stream crew no longer has to manually control a separate scorebug, allowing them to focus on other production elements.
• Professional and cohesive presentation. With the scoreboard integrated into both the live stream and in-rink display, our overall production quality has risen significantly.

We’re incredibly grateful to the uno team for their development time and willingness to support our unique requirements. Their solution has transformed our game-day experience and has helped us overcome logistical challenges and deliver a high quality, engaging broadcast for our players and fans alike. 

As we continue to grow the sport of ice hockey in New Zealand, innovations like these will be instrumental in bringing our games to life – both in the arena and online! 

Watch the NZIHL live on YouTube and catch uno’s ice hockey scoreboard overlay in action, and visit the NZIHL official website to learn more about upcoming news, schedules, and more.