The Australian Open is live-streaming an alternative Wii Tennis-style broadcast during this year’s Grand Slam tournament on YouTube.
The move, which left some spectators confused, appears to be a clever way to get around broadcast restrictions at Melbourne Park.
Australian Open tennis fans were treated to an alternate view of Carlos Alcaraz’s first-round match against Alexander Shevchenko on Monday.
The two tennis stars are depicted as caricatures – larger and rounder than they were in real life – and look similar to the characters of the Wii Sports video game.
“The Australian Open does not own all of its broadcast rights (which is fairly common),” explained tennis reporter Bastien Fachan on Channel X.
“So they’re live-streaming a version of Wii Tennis-like matches on YouTube – I love that.”
Many of the matches held during the first two days of the event received the same treatment as Alcaraz’s win over Shevchenko.
Players’ on-court actions are simulated by animated characters in real time, meaning tennis fans do just that to some extent Able to watch the action live.
The move is a recent trend in sports broadcasting — using motion capture and AI technology to digitally recreate a live game — that has been seen in other sports such as the NFL.
There were some issues with the Wii Tennis style broadcasts of the Australian Open, though some fans complained that the real audio of the match was not always synced correctly.
Other tennis fans have praised the bizarre broadcasts, providing them with a way to follow the action live without having to download illegal streams or rely on radio without any form of visual content.
“I didn’t realize this was a real thing, but what a fun way to update the viewer on the match!” One tennis fan, @mrwangkai, posted on X. “Versus the alternative, watching the commentators commentate on a match they can see, but can’t.”
“It’s crazy how good it is to track and see amazing sports people do it,” @Dannibisss added. “I’ve seen the NHL and NFL do it a few times in collaboration with some cartoons.”
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