Live sports distribution remains one of the toughest tests of broadcast innovation, demanding reliability, flexibility, and precision under real-world pressure. When MSTV was tasked with delivering the UEFA Europa League Qualifier 2nd leg between Shakhtar Donetsk and Beşiktaş, Cerberus Tech’s Livelink became the orchestration hub for a complex cloud-driven workflow.
Working in close partnership with Open Broadcast Systems, we demonstrated how cloud orchestration, IP transport, and 5G contribution can come together to deliver seamless coverage from the stadium in Krakow to audiences worldwide.
From the Stadium to the Cloud
At the venue, Open Broadcast Systems’ 5G Flyaway handled contribution encoding. Their compact and flexible solution designed for agile sports coverage ensured the live feed was captured at broadcast-grade quality and transmitted securely to the cloud, forming the foundation for a resilient, end-to-end workflow.
As outlined in Open Broadcast Systems’ blog post, the on-site setup used the venue’s public internet connection as the primary path and the 5G Flyaway as a backup, with latency tolerance tuned to absorb any jitter or packet loss. If one route experienced disruption, the other automatically took over. The latency differences between them were calibrated and protected with SMPTE 2022-7 hitless switching to ensure failovers were invisible to the viewer.
Resilience and Visibility in the Cloud
Inside Livelink, the workflow was orchestrated for maximum redundancy. In addition to the IP distribution workflow the signal was delivered through dual cloud-hosted paths to Globecast, ensuring there was no single point of failure before uplink via Eutelsat 7B.
For monitoring, a cloud-based multiviewer was built using TAG Video Systems, displaying fibre, 5G, failover, and satellite off-air feeds. This was streamed back to the Krakow production team, providing complete operational visibility.
We also incorporated an off-air return feed from Globecast, allowing the production team on the ground to see exactly what audiences were receiving in real time, therefore confirming final-stage quality across the entire distribution chain.
Adaptive Distribution for Multiple Broadcasters
Beyond satellite, we enabled SRT delivery to multiple partners, providing a secure, reliable, and cost-effective IP distribution path.
Different broadcasters often require different formats, and Livelink handled that with ease. Integrated with Ateme Titan Live, it transcoded the incoming interlaced feed into 1080p for one of the takers, while maintaining the original feed for others. This flexibility is critical for global sports delivery, where requirements vary across regions and platforms.
Smarter Monitoring and Real-Time Insight
This event also marked the first live deployment of Livelink’s inSight dashboard functionality – a new monitoring feature that brings real-time performance data into one visual interface. Dashboards consolidate stream health, latency, and network performance metrics into contextualised views, instantly shareable with clients and partners.
The result was greater transparency and reassurance during a high-stakes live event, showing how data visibility enhances trust between all stakeholders involved.
Proving What’s Possible in the Cloud
This qualifier was more than just a football match for the various teams involved. It was a practical demonstration of how cloud orchestration and IP workflows can and should be redefining live sports distribution.
With Livelink, every resource was provisioned on demand, scaled precisely when needed, and switched off as soon as the event ended. This short-term, high-value efficiency model drastically reduces cost while improving agility compared to traditional broadcast setups.
Our partnership with Open Broadcast Systems reinforced how seamlessly 5G contribution can integrate with cloud infrastructure to create robust, end-to-end workflows. Together, we proved that the future of live sports coverage is not just cloud-enabled. It’s cloud-first.
Experience Livelink in Action
From major sports tournaments to one-off live events, Livelink is increasing the scope of what’s possible in IP broadcast delivery.
Book a demo with our technical team to see how Livelink can combine cloud efficiency, broadcast resilience, and full operational visibility for your next event.
Get in touch with us to learn more.
