First phase of Sports functionalites, further accessibility enhancements, bug fixes.*
Note: This release supports Android, AndroidTV, and FireTV devices.
Minimum version requirements: The sports features detailed below are supported for customers using AXIS 9.0
Overview
This release contains the first phase of AXIS sports OOTB functionality, including new metadata types, pages, and row types in line with the AXIS 9.0 release. To add to this, we've made further accessibility enhancements and carried out general bug fixes.
What's new
The first phase of AXIS sports
Introducing the first phase of the sports functionality on AXIS. We've developed new dedicated sports asset types, pages and row types that support real-time event life cycle states; upcoming, live, and past.
New sports asset types
We’ve created several new asset types, dedicated to sports. Assets contain metadata (including asset images), Offers, and an internal reference to a video file if applicable. To learn more, read our assets article.
See below for asset type examples:
| Asset types | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sport | Confederations | Competitions | Stages | Events |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
| Football | FIFA |
World Cup Qualifiers (2019-2020)
|
Play-offs |
Match between two teams, e.g., England vs. Sweden |
|
Groups stages |
||||
|
Quarter-Finals |
||||
|
Semi-Finals |
||||
|
Final |
||||
| Baseball | MLB |
Play-off Season Final (2019-2020) |
Final |
Match between two teams, e.g., Arizona Diamondbacks vs. Atlanta Braves |
| Motorsport | N/A | Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (2020) | Nürburgring Grand Prix | Qualifying 1 |
|
Practice 2 |
||||
|
Race 1 |
||||
New sports fields
We've added several new fields in line with the new sports asset types; these include:
| Asset field | Asset types |
|---|---|
| Sport | Confederation, Competition, Stage, Event, Program, Custom |
| Round |
Event |
|
Year Start |
Competition |
| Year End |
Competition |
| Event Start |
Event |
| Event End |
Event |
| Sequence Number |
Stage, Event, Program, Custom |
New sports pages
Discover and interact with dedicated sports pages via the following new page types.
Select a page type for further information and supported row types:
1. Confederation details page
View and interact with sports Confederation details supporting OOTB analytics for user behavior tracking, and Right-to-Left languages.
Which rows are supported?
SHCF1 (16:9) Hero row
Asset key metadata is left-aligned over a wallpaper (16:9), alongside the sports confederation logo.
Share the page URL through the device's native OS share functionality (mobile and tablet only).
STV2 Events (16:9)
A vertical list of live and upcoming event asset tiles (16:9) from the same confederation or competitions.
- Initiate playback for live events
- Navigate to the event detail page for near-future events
- Define the maximum initial tile display (up to 24): Show more button displays additional events
2. Competition details page
View and interact with sports competition details, supporting OOTB analytics for user behavior tracking, and Right-to-Left languages.
Which rows are supported?
SHC1 (16:9) Hero row
Asset key metadata is left-aligned over a wallpaper (16:9) and competition logo.
- Metadata may include the sport (Football) and the confederation (UEFA)
- Year/season information for competition assets is supported e.g. 2019, 2019-2020, 2020
- Share the page URL through the device's native OS share functionality (mobile and tablet only)
STV2 Events (16:9)
A vertical list of live and upcoming event asset tiles (16:9) from the same confederation or competitions.
- Initiate playback for live events
- Navigate to the event detail page for near-future events
- Define the maximum initial tile display (up to 24): Show more button displays additional events
ST1 Stages (16:9)
A single horizontal scrollable row of upcoming event fixtures (16:9) within a competition.
The View all button displays if additional assets exist, redirecting users to a list page.
ST3 Events grid (16:9)
A double row of horizontal past event assets (16:9) displaying all prior events within the assets related competition.
- The Show more button displays if additional assets exist
- Filter events by a specific stage (coming soon)
3. Event details page
View and interact with sports Event details supporting OOTB analytics for user behavior tracking, and Right-to-Left languages.
Which rows are supported?
SHE1 (16:9) Hero
Assets or related assets key metadata and actions are left-aligned over a wallpaper (16:9), alongside the event logo.
- Metadata may include the sport (Football), stage (semi-finals), and round (round of 16)
- Initiate live and VOD video playback via the Watch button
- Save the asset for later via the Bookmark button
- Share the page URL through the device's native OS share functionality (mobile and tablet only)
STV3 Events (16:9)
A vertical double list of live and upcoming event asset tiles (16:9) from the same confederation or competition display the event title and tagline.
- The Show more button displays if additional event assets exist
- Initiate playback for live events
- Navigate to the event details page for near-future events
ST3 Events grid (16:9)
A double row of horizontal past event assets (16:9) displaying all prior events within the assets related competition.
- The Show more button displays if additional assets exist
- Filter events by a specific stage (coming soon)
Check out our pages and supported row types article for reference app examples of sports functionality.
Live playback
Note: The Live playback feature is a proof of concept.
The Watch page supports full-screen Live playback, asset titles, and descriptions, with a back icon redirecting users to the event details page. The scrub bar (progress indicator) remains fixed to the live point, displaying elapsed playback time.
Accessibility improvements
We have continued to enhance several aspects of accessibility for Android (mobile and tablet) users when using a physical keyboard. These include:
Enhanced player navigation and control:
- Play/pause: with the play/pause icon in focus, initiate, and stop content playback
- Timeline: with the timeline in focus, use the left/right keys to fast forward/rewind
- Mute/unmute: with the mute/unmute icon in focus, toggle between activating and deactivating the volume
- Volume: with the mute/unmute icon in focus, use the up/down keys to control volume levels
Linear player alignment
The play/pause, timeline, mute/unmute, and volume controls are now fully supported when viewing Linear content.
Hamburger menu navigation
Keyboard users can now explore the hamburger menu in its entirety by interacting with and navigating to all the contained menu items via tabbing or the arrow keys. Opening the hamburger menu automatically switches the navigational focus to the first interactive element within the menu.
Change password and PIN reset
Easily manage account details such as the password and PIN from within the My Account page using a keyboard.
What's fixed
Mobile and tablet
Accessibility fixes:
- Fixed an issue with the elements disappearing on an Item Detail page when the Watch button changed status
- Fixed an issue that displayed the remaining playback time instead of the scrubbing controller
- Fixed a focusing issue on the Create New Profile page
General fixes:
- Fixed a bug that caused the app to crash when opening a Featured detail page
- Fixed a bug that caused various row titles to appear incorrectly
AndroidTV
- Corrected an issue with focus behavior on the Homepage