National Badminton League on Sky Sports

The NBL Begins with Live Coverage from Milton Keynes

The very first National Badminton League got underway in Milton Keynes last night, as some of the world’s finest players showed their talents in the UK’s inaugural domestic league. Televideo are excited to be involved from the outset, providing outside broadcast and production facilities to partners Badminton England. The whole season will be aired exclusively on Sky Sports.

The Centre:MK shopping mall was the somewhat unusual setting for Match Night 1 between MK Badminton and the Surrey Smashers – but as the purpose built badminton arena came to life, the hype and interest increased beyond measure, as fans witnessed international superstars battling it out in a brand new version of the game. Powerplay rallies, timeouts and substitutions were just some of the changes, designed to make the fastest racquet sport on the planet that little bit faster.

The show was presented by Alec Wilkinson, who was joined by world number 5 in the mixed doubles, Chris Adcock, and Olympic Silver Medallist Nathan Robertson. Anthony Clark headed up the commentary for the evening, and Sky Sports viewers were treated to five fast and frenetic events, ending with the Surrey Smashers taking the very first NBL Match Night victory.

Televideo’s HD7 was the hub of the outside broadcast, for which the spec on this occasion included 8 cameras. A world feed of the broadcast was taken by Eurosport Asia. Meanwhile, in Birmingham, a smaller 2-camera operation covered the clash between Birmingham Lions and Team Derby. This was streamed online for takers across the world.

Match Night 2 will be live from Loughborough University on Monday 3rd November, as Loughborough Sport take on Team Derby.