Sports Video Group

The Sports Video Group debuted a brand new event last month with SVG NEXT: AI, XR, and Beyond. Held in Los Angeles on Nov. 13, the event took attendees on an insightful journey into the future of the media and entertainment industry and how emerging technologies are expected to impact the sports-production community in the coming years. Chaired by Cosmos Collab CEO/Founder Gregg Katano, the program delved deep into the transformative potential of cutting-edge technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI), Extended Reality (XR), virtual production, real-time fan engagement tools, and other next-gen innovations. SVG took a moment with Katano – a 30+ year entertainment, media, and tech entrepreneur, international speaker, and educator – at the event to discuss his goal of blending emerging technologies with sports media insights. He hits on how sports media leads in adopting new tech compared to other media sectors, the significance of Apple Vision Pro despite initial criticism, and the need for a 360-degree approach to content consumption that includes emerging devices beyond current platforms.

TNT Sports U.S.' Atlanta headquarters has undergone a massive transformation over the past handful of years. In addition to building out control rooms for REMI production, the company is also investing in significant technical innovations, including virtual production, AR-graphics-enhanced live studios, and even its own LED volume. At the SVG NEXT conference, SVG's Brandon Costa spoke with Dylan Boucherle, SVP, Production and Technical Operations for Warner Bros. Discovery to get the latest on his company's work in taking the live sports viewing experience into the future.

The Sports Broadcast community mourns the loss of Neil Flagg. Flagg spent 15 years at NBC Sports after working more than 50 years in the industry. From line producing to technical directing, and everything in between, he did it all. During his career he earned four Emmy Awards, and was an integral part in the production of NBA All-Star Games, Super Bowls, Olympics and more. His career continued outside of sports into entertainment where he served as technical director on American Gladiator and The Jenny Jones Show where he worked to help create incredible content. SVG sends their deepest condolences to the Flagg family, friends and coworkers. ?? : https://lnkd.in/enAhM2VS

The new SailGP season got underway over the weekend as the nation-vs-nation sailing league saw New Zealand get off to a dominating start. The United States team made an encouraging showing, coasting in at third. Now in its fifth season, SailGP has quickly built a reputation for itself as a haven for broadcast technology and innovation. That’s true again this year as a bunch of?new initiatives were launched, including AI cameras, new augmented reality graphics, and more. In this exclusive conversation,?SailGP’s Chief Content Officer Melissa Lawton?joins SVG Europe’s Will Strauss to discuss broadcast and media innovation and what else can be expected from the 2025 campaign. ? : https://lnkd.in/ejYifWYW

CBS Sports goes all-out at the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) Championship Game and the SailGP season begins in Dubai. That and more from a busy week on the business side of the sports media industry in the latest edition of your SVG Saturday Fax.

This weekend kicks off the start of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) Championship, where the Orlando Pride take on the Washington Spirit in Kansas City. CBS Sports is covering this high profile matchup with a total of 16 cameras on site including five super slow-mos, robotics in net, two RF handhelds on the touchline, two shallow depth-of-field cameras and a drone. On the pitch alongside the match will also be pre and post game shows, allowing the studio show to share the ambiance of the event. The compound is also housing a pair of NEP Group, Inc. mobile units: NCP7 handling the game production, M-14 the studio show. Sharing resources, both the game and studio show will tap a Steadicam. Fans can tune in for not just great soccer, but great storylines as well. The production team has made sure to create a stellar lineup of analysts and hosts to help fans feel closer than ever to their favorite players and teams. “The league has built everything up in the right way. They’ve done a great job selling and marketing the league to their fans.” - Nicholas Doyle ? : https://lnkd.in/eWKu3NwR

Esports superpower Riot Games recently opened its second Remote Broadcast Center, this one just south of Seattle. Powered by Amazon Web Services (AWS), the 70,000-square foot production space joins Riot’s first RBC in Dublin to offer an efficient new approach to live global production where broadcast feeds from live esports competitions happening around the world can be sent to the RBCs where content is produced, broadcast, and distributed in multiple languages to esports fans. At the 2024 SVG Esports Production Summit, our Jason Dachman spoke with Allyson Gormley, Riot Games' Global Operations Director, Esports Broadcast & Production – Remote Broadcast Center powered by AWS to discuss the highlights of the facility.

Mickey and Minnie are celebrating Christmas a little differently this year. Partnering with the National Basketball Association (NBA) and ESPN, The Walt Disney Company is creating a?virtual, live re-creation of the San Antonio Spurs Christmas Day matchup against the New York Knicks, Inc. Each Spurs and Knicks player will appear as a motion-enabled, animated player created by Sony's Beyond Sports technology. The storyline will follow Mickey's Christmas wish to have Santa Claus bring NBA players to "Main Street, USA" at Magic Kingdom to create the first ever animated NBA broadcast. Features will include slam dunk contests at half-time, Santa's elves operating the cameras, character speeches and more. ?? : https://lnkd.in/eSM744pS

Hofstra University unveiled their new centralized broadcast control room which is being used to both amplify their game day coverage, as well as train the next generation. After 18 months of work, the control room has opened up in its new home in the Lawrence Herbert School of Communication. With a fifteen student staff already, the goal is to create a larger community within the space and expand their reach. This new control room is created in conjunction with the creation of the new sports-media degree that the School of Communication offers. Hofstra Athletics is expecting to produce over 130 live sporting events out of the control room this year. As for technicals, the set up is fully capable of producing 1080p 59.94 with HDR capability and is connected via fiber to all the venues on campus. The control room is fully outfitted with a Ross Video Carbonite Ultra 60 production switcher, TV Graphics All-In-One system (for all graphics and scorebugs), a 12-channel Ross Mira replay server, and is built around an Evertz EQX 26 router, with its audio console upgraded with a Calrec Audio Brio. For live production, the school invested in a collection of 13 cameras, including five Hitachi SK-UHD7000 cameras with Canon Inc. lenses (four Digi Super 111X and one 4K 11X) , as well as eight Canon XF 605 4K cameras. They also added a bevy of microphones: 12 Audio-Technica AT897’s, six Sennheiser HMD-26’s, and six Sennheiser HMD-46’s. “This is just the beginning. It’s exciting to be able to showcase how good our teams are. This opportunity is out of this world.” - Kevin Dexter Cameron Keough | Jesse Webster | Susan Poser | Mark Lukasiewicz ???? : https://lnkd.in/e-5ayBTu

Back with another edition of SVG ALL-STARS! Always a thrill to witness in person, NHRA: Championship Drag Racing’s appeal as a television product has grown exponentially in recent years, thanks to the hard and innovative work of behind-the-scenes individuals like?Rob Hedrick. From improving image quality to 1080p to enhancing visuals with more slo-mo and in-car cameras and capturing the heart-rattling sound of the Top Fuel cars, NHRA events on TV?have never been more compelling and immersive. It’s production people like Hedrick who put the tools in place to capture all the pieces necessary to assemble an exciting broadcast. In this week’s edition of SVG All-Stars, learn Hedrick’s story, discover what industry innovations he has his eye on, and get his advice on what it takes to break into the live–sports-production industry. ?? : https://lnkd.in/ehF-VgjK