From ST 2110 to software-defined live production
How Premium Stadiums Are Rethinking Live Production at the Edge
UHD is no longer an aspiration for stadium production; it has become the operational baseline. At the same time, SMPTE ST 2110 has moved from early experimentation to real-world deployment, redefining how live content is handled inside major venues. The challenge today is no longer about adopting IP, but about deploying it in a way that preserves the reliability, predictability, and performance that live sports demand.
Across Europe and beyond, some of the most iconic football stadiums (venues that have hosted top-tier continental competitions for decades) are now facing the same inflection point. Production infrastructures originally designed around SDI and fixed-function hardware must evolve to support UHD, IP-native workflows, and higher operational density, without increasing latency or disrupting well-established production practices.
This is where a new approach to contribution at the edge is emerging.
Rethinking Contribution Inside Modern Stadiums
In many premium stadiums, contribution systems were deployed years ago to meet the needs of linear production workflows. While these platforms delivered reliable service, they were never designed for a world where uncompressed UHD over IP, redundant ST 2110 networks, and software-driven orchestration would become standard.
As production requirements evolve, limitations become increasingly visible. Native ST 2110 ingest is required, UHD channel counts increase, and integration with IP control systems such as NMOS becomes mandatory. At the same time, expectations around latency remain unchanged: live production teams expect the same deterministic behaviour they have always relied on.
Rather than extending legacy architectures, many stadium operators (often working through experienced system integrators or service providers) are now rethinking contribution from the ground up, starting at the edge.
A Software-Defined Edge Built for Live Sports
Ateme’s approach to stadium contribution is centered on TITAN Edge, a software-defined platform designed to consolidate multiple contribution roles into a single, flexible system. Encoding, decoding, gateway functions, and baseband bridging are all delivered through one software stack, running on standard COTS servers.
This architecture allows UHD and HD contribution services to coexist naturally, while supporting both ST 2110 and SDI environments. In practical deployments, compact server footprints can handle multiple UHD services alongside HD channels, ingesting uncompressed ST 2110 feeds with SMPTE 2022-7 redundancy, while remaining fully compatible with existing SDI infrastructure.
Most importantly, this increased density does not come at the expense of latency. The platform is designed to preserve the deterministic performance required for live sports production, even as capacity and flexibility increase.
IP-Native by Design, Not by Compromise
In modern stadium deployments, IP is no longer treated as an extension of SDI, it is the foundation. Ateme’s stadium architectures are built around PTP-synchronized ST 2110 environments and integrate seamlessly with NMOS-based control systems already deployed by system integrators and venue operators.
UHD flows are distributed intelligently across multiple high-speed network interfaces, ensuring bandwidth headroom and resilience without introducing operational complexity. This design allows production teams to work across IP and SDI workflows transparently, without changing established operational habits.
The result is an infrastructure that adapts to production, rather than forcing production to adapt to IP.
Real-World Linear Use-Cases Inside the Stadium
Within this architecture, TITAN Edge supports a wide range of linear contribution use-cases that are common across premium sports venues. UHD and HD feeds are encoded and redistributed internally for live production, technical monitoring, and in-venue displays. The same platform can also be used to prepare clean, synchronized contribution feeds that are handed off to downstream broadcast infrastructures outside the stadium.
These workflows are firmly positioned within the scope of internal production and feed preparation. The focus is on normalization, synchronization, and contribution reliability, ahead of any rights-controlled or public distribution handled by third parties.
Preparing for OTT Without Redefining Today’s Workflows
While linear contribution remains central to stadium operations, OTT requirements are increasingly part of long-term planning. Stadium operators and service providers need to be ready for new workflows without introducing unnecessary complexity today.
This is where TITAN Live complements the contribution architecture. Designed for high-density, real-time encoding and packaging, TITAN Live enables the generation of multi-profile OTT streams from UHD and HD sources ingested over ST 2110 or SDI.
These capabilities support controlled use-cases such as internal preview streams, remote technical access, engineering validation, or club-owned content workflows like interviews and behind-the-scenes production. By keeping OTT capabilities modular and separate from core contribution, stadiums gain future flexibility without disrupting existing operations.
Hardware That Enables Evolution, Not Lock-In
A key enabler of this approach is Ateme’s use of modern COTS servers powered by the latest-generation CPUs. Hardware configurations are sized according to workload (high-density contribution at the edge, OTT processing where required) while preserving headroom for future services.
This model ensures that new formats, codecs, or workflows can be introduced through software evolution rather than hardware replacement, extending platform lifespan and protecting investment.
The Shift to IP-Native Stadium Production
Across premium stadiums worldwide, live production infrastructures are undergoing a fundamental shift. Fixed-function appliances are giving way to software-defined platforms, and SDI-centric designs are evolving into IP-native architectures. Contribution systems are no longer single-purpose devices, but flexible building blocks designed to evolve over time.
By combining UHD density, ST 2110-native design, deterministic latency, and future-ready OTT capabilities at the edge, IP-based architectures provide stadiums with a stable foundation for today’s production needs, while remaining ready for future formats and workflows.
Owning the Future of Stadium Content
For premium stadiums, modern infrastructure is no longer just about producing live events, it is about enabling long-term fan engagement. Immersive formats and club-owned content are becoming strategic assets, helping venues strengthen relationships with fans and extend engagement beyond match day. To support this evolution, stadiums need ultra-low-latency contribution at the edge, combined with flexible IP-native processing that can adapt over time, in close collaboration with service providers and integrators who remain central to day-to-day operations.
By combining TITAN Edge for efficient, low-latency contribution and TITAN Live for advanced transcoding and packaging, Ateme delivers a coherent, future-ready platform built for the realities of modern stadium production. Together, Ateme’s solutions provide a platform designed to support not only today’s events, but the next decade of immersive stadium experiences.
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About the Author
Solution Marketing Senior Director at Ateme
Julien joined Ateme in 2001, starting in the Hardware Department before moving into Product Management, where he led the launch and evolution of the Kyrion product line.
In 2017, he co-founded the BISS-CA standard with the EBU, reshaping the secure distribution of international live events.
He is currently Solution Marketing Director for Contribution and Distribution, driving partner and customer engagement around the Kyrion and TITAN product lines.