SVG Saturday Fax: The Week in Sports Video Production

Welcome to the first edition of SVG Saturday Fax, a new weekly LinkedIn newsletter from the Sports Video Group.

Each Saturday morning, we will deliver you a primer on everything from the week that was and the weekend to come in sports video production and operations.

A Super Bowl For The Ages

CBS Sports ' production of Super Bowl LVIII is now the most-watched telecast in American sports history.

165 CBS Sports cameras covered Las Vegas (including DoinkCam, live drones, PylonCams, 24 robos, 24 cameras with 4K Zoom extraction capability, and 20 AR-capable cameras), a gorgeous pre-game studio set on the Bellagio Fountains, and the first alternate production of a Super Bowl with the Nickelodeon broadcast.

On the game broadcast, CBS Sports also had three cabled aerial cameras provided by SkyCam. A two-point camera stretching the length of one of the sidelines caught this gorgeous replay of a San Francisco 49ers touchdown in the second quarter:

Read SVG's comprehensive coverage of Super Bowl LVIII.

The Big Game on The Big Board

This Super Bowl was the first hosted at Las Vegas' Allegiant Stadium. As is typical for a Super Bowl, Van Wagner came in to partner with the host facility to produce the in-stadium videoboard show.

This year saw some new wrinkles: the Opening Night was held in the stadium for the first time ever; HDR workflows continue to evolve; and Van Wagner’s remote facility in Raleigh, NC, did a remote production for the NFL Pro Bowl in Orlando the weekend prior.

Van Wagner Productions President Bob Becker spoke about those happenings, working in Allegiant Stadium, and much more.

You can learn more about the in-venue videoboard show at Super Bowl LVIII and network with the people who pulled it off by joining us at the SVG Venue Summit at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on March 3.

Innovation in Indy at NBA All-Star

NBA All-Star Weekend is always one of the biggest events on the sports calendar when it pertains to broadcast innovation. This year, with the event in hoops hotbed of Indianapolis, TNT Sports U.S. , ESPN , and the National Basketball Association (NBA) are all geared up for a big few days of broadcasts.

Be on the look out for a number of innovations that are true game changers, including MindFly’s BodyCam and an LED court from ASB Lumiflex, which will be used at Lucas Oil Stadium on Friday and Saturday.

Our Ken Kerschbaumer is onsite for NBA All-Star in Indianapolis all weekend. Follow along for updates over at sportsvideo.org.

Shifting Gears to Daytona

The forecast is foreboding for Sunday's running of the Daytona 500, but FOX Sports is ready to roll for what is always one of the largest broadcast operations on the calendar.

Among the key tech toys on hand for the 1080p HDR production will be the in-car GyroCam from BSI, an enhanced 3D telestrator from Fingerworks , live drones from Beverly Hills Aerials and 索尼 Hawkeye extraction capabilities from an HDC-5500 4K camera.

In addition, FOX Sports is expanding its onsite studio presence.

NASCAR Productions, meanwhile, is leveraging its brand-new remote-production facility in Concord, NC, to handle production of the world feed at this year's Daytona 500 and to support the onsite operations of FOX Sports.

The audio side of this race is always a big focal point, as well. Audio Editor Dan Daley shares the story of how this Daytona 500's sound will be produced by a REMI team scattered across the country.

A Live First in Austria

Last month, Mediahaus GmbH - the host broadcaster at the Mountain Attack ski mountaineering race in Austria - ran a proof-of-concept remote production of live SRT streaming from Blackmagic Design USRA G2 Broadcast cameras over a 5G network.

With a 三星电子 mobile phone connected via USB-C to a URSA Broadcast G2, Mediahaus successfully streamed 5Mbps H.264 over SRT with a latency of just half a second.

Read more about the production in this report from SVG Europe's Heather McLean.

News to Note

• NFL Network, FS1, and Kansas City Chiefs video production crews checked in as safe following the shooting at Wednesday's Super Bowl parade at Union Station.
• Amazon's Prime Video landed next year's streaming-exclusive NFL Playoff game.
• The Athletic reports, ESPN and the College Football Playoff are in agreement on a six-year, $7.8 billion extension that will make the network the home of the tournament (which expands this year to 12 teams) through the 2031-32 season.

Industry Career Opportunities

• ESPN: Specialist, Production Operations
• NASCAR: Manager, Broadcast Engineering
• NBA: Sr. Manager, Broadcast Graphics
• Utah Jazz: Director of Streaming
• ES Broadcast : Senior Key Account Manager

Upcoming SVG Networking Events

• February 21: SVG Graphics Forum (New York City)
• March 4: SVG Venue Summit: Allegiant Stadium (Las Vegas)
• March 20: SVG Digital Engagement Forum (New York City)