The Australian Open doesn’t own all of its broadcasting rights, so they’ve taken the decision to live-stream a Wii Tennis-like version of the matches on YouTube.
That means tennis fans hitting YouTube to see live matches from the Australian Open could be forgiven for thinking they’ve accidentally clicked on a channel recreating the tournament in Wii Sports.
But no.
It turns out the event’s official channel has taken a novel approach to getting around broadcast rights issues.
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The official Australian Open TV YouTube channel is broadcasting live games from the tournament with a twist. Lacking the live broadcast rights for matches, a workaround which involves capturing the player and ball movements live on the court and rendering animated versions in real-time is giving a ‘Mii-esque’ spin to the grand slam event.
The real-time implementation is not flawless – the oversized balls often flash in and out of existence, players’ clothing can look a little ragged, and the racquets have a habit of floating beside the players’ hands.
But, it’s not a bad back-up option and it’s something different. It’s also easy enough to follow and, along with the live commentary, entertaining enough to not feel like you’re missing out too much.
For tennis fans eager to watch games live but without access to whatever channel has the broadcast rights in their region, this animated version works.
