For over 180 years the traditions of Henley Royal Regatta have been preserved on the banks of the Thames.
Recently, the regatta has been at the forefront of innovation when it comes to broadcasting the sport of rowing, something that other events have struggled to embrace.
Sat on the Committee Lawn, Sir Matthew Pinsent and Neil Chugani, both Stewards of the Regatta and members of the management committee, reflected on how the coverage is keeping the sport exciting for viewers across the world.
“One of the things that I think about is what inspired the original vision,” explained Chugani, a former World Champion in the Coxed Pair.
He went on to say, “In 2013 the America’s Cup was in San Francisco and the coverage of that completely transformed the way people thought about watching big boat sailing. When we came into this we thought that what we want to do at Henley and in rowing is something that is of equivalent transformational nature.
“I think that’s what inspired the original vision; to film rowing in a way it hadn’t been filmed at World Championship or Olympic Regattas and our ambition is to set the standard in rowing and to continue to innovate.”
For Pinsent, a four-time Olympic gold medallist, the broadcast of the regatta has given the organising committee the ability to shift public perceptions about the sport and focus media coverage onto the racing rather than the off-water antics.
“We’re all playing our part in a sort of garden party-come pageant-come rowing regatta-come social event, that’s all fine. I think the broadcast allows us to tell a story through the lens of rowing so that the sport comes first and then the blazers and the hats are the backdrop rather than the other way round.
“It always frustrated those of us who were in charge of the event that we get written up in a way that perhaps Ascot or Wimbledon or whatever the equivalent may be in other sports didn’t, so we’ve changed that.
“Slowly but surely, we’ve changed that so people are generally informed about the racing and when they tune it looks great and it’s high quality,” he added.
In 2023, coverage of Henley Royal Regatta is going out on YouTube as well as broadcast across BT Sport and Eurosport.
It’s a lucrative partnership for the regatta and the sport of rowing as the International Olympic Committee awarded exclusive 2026-2032 Olympic Games rights in Europe to European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and Warner Bros. Discovery.
It was also announced earlier in the year that BT Sport is to rebrand as TNT Sport as part of a joint venture with Warner Bros Discovery.
Chugani explained: “It’s a journey which hasn’t been an easy one because relative to all the other sports covered by BT Sport and Eurosport, rowing is considered somewhat niche.
“What is very important is that rowing is an Olympic sport and Eurosport/BT Sport will be the home of the Olympics in Europe and when the head of production at BT Sport came to the regatta last year, he saw just how important this is in the pathway to the Olympics for so many athletes.
“There’s a lot of change going on at BT Sport and Eurosport with the two of them coming together to form TNT Sports. I think what won’t change is that the broadcaster will remain committed to the Olympics and with rowing part of the Olympic programme and Henley part of the pathway to the games hopefully that will stand us in good stead.
“We also have to sing for our supper a little as well. It’s important that the coverage performs well for it to be renewed again next year,” said the former Cox who won at the regatta in 1991.
Pinsent noted: “It’s essentially Olympic quality broadcasting for every crew in the regatta which is a lofty bar but that’s our aspiration and no other regatta can do that at the moment which is a real goal for us and a feather in our cap.
“It has been much more about the athletes and the competition than about the social side and the pageantry. All of the latter is important too but that was what dominated mainstream media coverage before the broadcast took off.
“It’s been a very intentional path that we’ve taken to celebrate the rowing as well as the performance and achievements of the athletes.”
Pinsent also recognises that while the coverage of the sport has evolved in recent years, more can always be done.
The sports broadcasting industry is shifting continually and events such as Henley Royal Regatta must be at the cutting edge of technological advancements to keep the sport relevant.
The broadcast operation has grown considerably and now uses 12 cameras across the 2112-metre course. Combine this with six kilometres of underwater cables, 225 transmitter receivers, 30 antennae, 65 production and OB crew and the result is nearly 60 hours of world-class coverage.
Pinsent said: “I think rowing has to be prepared to have a scrap and innovate, it has to be different and it’s got to be engaging.
“It does frustrate me that international rowing has done the same six-lane racing format for sixty years, even more perhaps, I don’t think you’ll find any other sport that does that.
“We have to look after our event and broadcast and we’ll innovate in the direction that is right for us. We’re not suddenly going to do sprint racing but The King’s Cup and mixed crews, was an innovation for rowing and we did it at Henley. It’s not an innovation but we are the only event that puts junior athletes on the same race track as world champions within five minutes.
“We are different and we won’t be afraid, with the support of the regatta committee and chairman, who have been hugely supportive in the last five or six years, if we want to do something different with the broadcast of the event then we have the freedom to do so.
“We don’t have to ask anyone’s permission and I think that spirit of innovation should be across the sport because if all we do is sit and wait then it won’t be a good journey.”
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