SVG Saturday Fax: The Week In Sports Video Production
Sports Video Group
To advance the creation, production, and distribution of sports content.
We're in the thick of one of the more challenging annual stretches in the sports production industry. The NFL Playoffs are here. College football has its National Championship matchup set. Many of the major sports leagues are all in season.
Not to mention, logistics have been tough with freak weather across the country and, of course, the horrible fires raging through Los Angeles.
There's an awful lot to catch up on in the world of live sports production and operations in the latest edition of your SVG Saturday Fax.
NFL Playoffs Arrive With Nick SlameCast, Prime Video Debut
The National Football League (NFL) Playoffs have finally arrived and a busy weekend features many notable productions.
CBS Sports has a pair of games, including Chargers-Texans on Saturday where Nickelodeon and CBS are set to produce their sixth Slime-filled alternate NFL telecast. The SpongeBob SquarePants-themed presentation will serve as a tribute to just how far AR-graphics-based broadcasts have come – both technologically and creatively – since the first Nickelodeon altcast of an NFL game back in 2021.
Later on Saturday night, Prime Video & Amazon MGM Studios takes another significant step in its journey to prominence as a live sports broadcaster when the streamer delivers its first NFL Playoff game with Steelers-Ravens.
Then, on Sunday, Broncos-Bills will see legendary announcer Jim Nantz call his 500th NFL game on CBS before the Packers-Eagles battle on FOX. For the nightcap, NBC Sports stays right in its primetime window with Commanders-Buccaneers.
Meanwhile, ESPN is shifting its plans after the NFL announced this week that the NFC Wild Card game between the Vikings and Rams originally scheduled to be played at SoFi Stadium has been moved to Glendale, Arizona as a result of the L.A. fires.
NOTE: Visit SVG for more in-depth coverage of the NFL Playoffs in the coming weeks, including a report on Monday chronicling ESPN's production of the Vikings-Rams game now set to be hosted in Arizona.
ESPN Bolsters Cameras at College Football Playoff Semifinals
The newly-expanded College Football Playoff delivered its semifinals on Thursday and Friday night this week and ESPN was positioned with crews in Miami and Dallas for two huge shows.
Both sites were anchored by more than 50 cameras, including the playoff debut of the Mindfly.live BodyCam, which was worn by three officials during the games. Other speciality cameras included: eight PylonCams in each endzone, as well as the line-to-gain PylonCams. A wireless cinematic rig shooting in shallow depth-of-field also hit the field after scoring plays. That setup is a Sony FX3 on a gimbal connected to the truck via RF.
"It’s been an incredible experience," says Jarrett Baker, Senior Manager, Remote Production Operations at ESPN. "It’s just incredible to see the amount of resources we put on each of those games. Of course, there are the little things that come up here and there but we worked through them together with an incredible rockstar team on each of the sites.”
TGL Debut Ushers In New Era for Golf
This week, TGL (Tomorrow’s Golf League) debuted on ESPN with the world’s top golfers facing off at SoFi Center in Florida. The event features pro golfers playing on a roofed course shooting into a simulator screen. It's also quite the live production playground.
In the arsenal is a live drone and super slo-mo cameras on the tee boxes, as well as EVS Broadcast Equipment Xtramotion able to be used on every camera. The broadcast had 73 camera sources total, with 28 robos and ten virtual. Some cameras include a Railcam, Rovercam and Spidercam system. Players were also mic'ed up, allowing unprecedented access.
"We’re not just staying in the real world; we want to create an atmosphere in the virtual world," said Johnathan Evans, who directed the live broadcast. "There are so many things that have never been done before, and that makes it truly exciting.”
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How Utah Hockey Club Produces In-Market Game Broadcasts
The newest squad in the National Hockey League (NHL) , Utah Hockey Club , has taken on the task of producing and distributing its own live game productions in-market. Games are delivered over the air on Utah 16 and through SEG Media’s direct-to-consumer platform, UtahHC+.?
How are those games produced and what did it take to pull the entire operation together? We sat down with veteran director Paul Hemming , an individual who’s been directing NHL games for over 25 years at the local and national level, to outline where the franchise was in the planning process when he first joined the team, how the infrastructure of Jazz+ helps his broadcasts, how he balances elements for first-time and longtime viewers in Salt Lake City and beyond, how his previous work with NHL on TNT impacts his directing style, and much more.
Sports Broadcasting Fund Available to Help L.A. Fire Victims
In many ways, sports has taken a backseat as the nation has witnessed the horrors of the wildfires ripping through Los Angeles.
SVG's Sports Broadcasting Fund was established for situations just like this. If you or someone you know who works in the sports-broadcasting industry is facing financial or other hardships due to the wildfires, please apply today for assistance.
Our goal is to provide a wide range of support to help sports-industry professionals recover from disaster, illness, and more.
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