United Soccer League To Make Broadcast-TV Debut, Ushers in New CBS Partnership With Biggest Production in League History
05/04/2024
Friday, April 5, 2024 - 2:06 pm
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
Saturday marks a massive day - and the dawn of a new era - in the 14-year history of the burgeoning United Soccer League.
The USL, a Division II league directly under Major League Soccer in U.S. soccer hierarchy, kicks off a new four-year media-rights agreement with CBS Sports. The occasion will be marked with a new graphics package and a new theme song debuting on Saturday's broadcast of the Indy Eleven at Louisville City FC on CBS (4 p.m. ET), the league's first-ever appearance on broadcast television.
Additionally, the USL, its production/operations partner NEP/VISTA Worldlink, and CBS Sports will meet the moment with the largest production effort ever for a USL match. A fully onsite production will feature a crew of more than 50 people, 16 cameras, and some of this country's most seasoned soccer storytellers at the helm.
The talents that you see at CBS with all of their big shows have been put forth into this production, says USL EVP, Media, Michael Cohen, who, quite fittingly, was lead producer for Major League Soccer's first game on the same date 28 years ago (April 6, 1996). It's huge that they've stepped up for us. We respect the fact that [after] a Super Bowl, March Madness, and The Masters, they've dedicated the time. We truly value the partnership.
Saturday's broadcast is the first of three nationally televised games on CBS this season. As part of the agreement, another 22 games will appear on CBS Sports Network, and 75 games will air live on Paramount's FAST Channel and the CBS Sports Golazo Network. The remaining inventory of games will be distributed across the ESPN family of networks: ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN+.
The USL's new graphics package differentiates the league from other soccer properties and identifies it across CBS channels.
For Paramount and CBS Sports, the partnership with the USL is another piece in its growing portfolio of soccer leagues, which already includes the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, Italy's top-flight Serie A, and the U.S. National Women's Soccer League.
The CBS Sports brand has a lot of credibility within the soccer community, and that has been hard-earned, says Julie Keryc, senior coordinating producer, outside remote production, CBS Sports. In this partnership, where we partner with a league that is producing their own games, my goal and the goal of CBS Sports is to make sure that these productions are living up to the very high standards we set. That is certainly the case here, and we feel strongly about the production plan that the USL has in place.
New Graphics Package Elevates Brand A major piece of the new partnership is collaboration on a new graphics and animation package: a wall-to-wall design that could be used not just for games on broadcast but across the league's entire season of live games. I think [the animation package] is a big part of differentiating the USL from our other soccer properties and making sure it has its unique visuals and unique brand across all of our channels, says Keryc.
The CBS Sports crew developed a look for the league's teams as well as the overall design.
The overall design aims to capture the spirit of the USL, its fanbases, and the various markets its teams call home. Animations feature soccer scarves in a nod to the popular fan accessory. Says Keryc, We tried to make the fans feel like they were a part of it and to give a nod to all these local markets that are passionately behind their team.
The CBS Sports graphics-design team, including Art Director Carlos Molina and Senior Motion Designer Jason Dooley, led the way in tailoring the package to CBS platforms while also leaving room for a more generalized version that can be seamlessly applied to all USL broadcast partners. Designers used OctaneRender to build advanced photorealistic graphics.
Inclusive' Theme Music For a New Era Meanwhile, CBS Sports flexed its collaborative muscle, working directly with the USL in composing and producing a new theme song for the league's television broadcasts.
United Pulse: Heartbeat of the USL is composed by Joe Sicurella, whose r sum includes such sports-TV themes as the current CBS College Football Theme and past iterations of The NFL Today (1983-1993) and NBA on CBS (1983-1990) themes. He worked with veteran composer Nathan Padgett to develop a theme that fit the league's personality while capturing the energy both on the field and in the stands at a USL match.
Elevating the brand was definitely a goal for the theme as well, says Keryc, making sure that the theme [conveys] the importance that we feel USL has in the soccer community.
Sicurella's career is stacked with experience across not just the sports industry but in music, entertainment, and advertising as well. The multi-Emmy nominee has composed themes for NBC Nightly News and collaborated on projects with Aretha Franklin, Johnny Cash, and Whitney Houston.
Padgett, for his part, is an award-winning composer, songwriter, arranger, and orchestrator and created the musical theme for ESPN's ACC Network when it launched in 2019. He has also composed music for the Walt Disney Co., Mercedes-Benz, and Procter & Gamble.
The duo also worked with Adam Joseph, head of creative/executive music producer, Crowd Pleaser Music, on the USL theme.
During development of the theme, Cohen was tasked with expressing key words and or concepts to help guide the creative process. With the league's top teams residing largely in midsize media markets and the
LINK: | https://www.sportsvideo.org/2024/04/05/united-soccer-league-to-make-br... |
See more stories from svg |
Most recent headlines
04/08/2024
Dalet Appoints Santiago Solanas as CEO to Lead Next Era of Growth and Innovation
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, is excited to announce Santiago Solanas as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO)....
03/06/2024
Dalet and Veritone Reach Agreement to Distribute, Transact and Monetize Media Archives
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, a...
20/05/2024
Sony-Apollo's Bid for Paramount Gets Serious
A bid from Sony Pictures Entertainment and Apollo Global Management to acquire Paramount gained steam late last week, according to a report in the New York Time...
20/05/2024
Vizrt Unveils Viz Libro 8.3 With New Social Media Cropping Function
BERGEN, Norway Vizrt has released Viz Libero 8.3 with the announcement that its latest software version enables users to crop video to various aspect ratios fro...
20/05/2024
The Vampire Next Door Created with Pocket Cinema Camera 6K and DaVinci Resolve
The Vampire Next Door Created with Pocket Cinema Camera 6K and DaVinci Resolve Brie Clayton May 20, 2024 0 Comments Blackmagic Design today announced ...
20/05/2024
Tom Wills To Retire After Nearly 50 Years at WJXT Jacksonville
Tom Wills, long-running anchor at WJXT Jacksonville, Florida, has announced his retirement. He started at WJXT in 1975 and has anchored early-evening news for o...
20/05/2024
AMC Networks Promotes Emily Gotto to Senior VP at Shudder
AMC Networks said it promoted Emily Gotto to senior VP of acquisition and production for Shudder, the company's horror-themed streaming service....
20/05/2024
Paramount Names Jonathan Bingaman President, Domestic Multi-Platform Licensing & Distribution
Jonathan Bingaman has been named president, domestic multi-platform licensing & ...
20/05/2024
DLT Entertainment Gets FAST Laughs With 80's Sitcom Flashback Channel
Producer and distributor DLT Entertainment said it launched a free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) channel called 80's Sitcom Flashback....
20/05/2024
Zeam Media Names Sandie Trombert CMO
Zeam Media said it hired Sandie Trombert as chief marketing officer....
20/05/2024
Meet the VFX producer
Angus Berryman, VFX producer at UNIT studio tells TVBEurope how perseverance paid off as his career progressed By Matthew Corrigan Published: May 20, 2024 ...
20/05/2024
Sony signs NDA with Paramount Global but is reticent about earlier plan
The New York Times said the move was a significant step forward in their effort to court Paramount By Matthew Corrigan Published: May 20, 2024 The New Yor...
20/05/2024
CBC HR Team Getting Ballpark Staff Ready to Play Ball
A pair of stalwart members of the Capitol Broadcasting's dream team have been getting the company's two Coastal Plain League teams ready to launch their...
20/05/2024
RIP: Two deaths' on Shaka ILembe' production
RIP: Two deaths' on Shaka ILembe' productionTwo people, who are part of the Shaka Ilembe' production set to return for a second season, have repo...
20/05/2024
Gangsterism in movies and television: Wees geskool'
Gangsterism in movies and television: Wees geskool'Gangsterism has been portrayed in movies and television: but have you ever seen these films and televisi...
20/05/2024
School project features Die Antwoord' [Watch]
School project features Die Antwoord' [Watch]School projects are difficult. However, this student took some inspiration from the controversial band Die An...
20/05/2024
Tonight on Skeem Saam: Ntswaki sneaks Toby into the house but sadly for her, Leeto arrives unannounced
Tonight on Skeem Saam: Ntswaki sneaks Toby into the house but sadly for her, Lee...
20/05/2024
Thales and Nokia partner to deliver seamless renewal to London Underground
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Thales, with its transmission network technology partner, Nokia, has been selected by Transport for London (TfL) to deliver an i...
20/05/2024
May 17, 2024
Scripps Research chemists develop new method for making gamma chiral centers on simple carboxylic acids C-H activation-based method should speed drug molecule ...
20/05/2024
First European Election Major TV Debate this Monday Night on Upfront with Katie Hannon
As part of RT 's extensive coverage in the run up to the European Parliament...
19/05/2024
TV Techs Weekly Product Wrap-Up
Missed any of our product coverage during your busy week? The TV Tech weekly product and services news wrap-up provides links to all of our coverage from May 13...
19/05/2024
The CW Shares Its 2024-2025 Lineup
LeVar Burton will host the new game show Trivial Pursuit on The CW, while Raven-Symon will host Scrabble....
19/05/2024
Biden, Trump Agree to Debates on CNN, ABC
President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump have agreed to debates, set for June 27 on CNN and September 10 on ABC....
19/05/2024
End of the Line for Young Sheldon' on May 16
Young Sheldon signs off after seven seasons on CBS, when the series finale airs Thursday, May 18. Jim Parsons and Mayim Bialik reprise their roles as Sheldon Co...
19/05/2024
House of Zwide' June Spoiler: The Zwides recover their millions
House of Zwide' June Spoiler: The Zwides recover their millions The House of Zwide' June teasers reveal that Funani and Nkosi will recover a share of t...
18/05/2024
If Bundling Is Back, What's the Ideal Bundle?
PORTSMOUTH, N.H. Bundling is back in a big way, with all the major streaming companies and many pay TV operators exploring ways to simplify the consumer experie...
18/05/2024
FCC to Vote on LPTV Rules during June Open Meeting
WASHINGTON, D.C. Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel has announced a tentative agenda for the June Open Commission Meeting schedule...
18/05/2024
Matthews Launches New Multipurpose Grip Rail Telescopic Grid Pipe Solution
Matthews Studio Equipment has introduced Grip Rail, which the company said offers a better way to mount equipment on location, in the studio, or on the fly....
18/05/2024
IAB Tech Labs, Google Partner on New First Party Data Solution
In a notable development in the industry-wide effort to address privacy concerns while improving efficacy of marketing efforts in a cookieless ad landscape, IAB...
18/05/2024
TV Tech Weekly Product Wrap-Up
Missed any of our product coverage during your busy week? The TV Tech weekly product and services news wrap-up provides links to all of our coverage from May 13...
18/05/2024
DHD Elevates the Art of Podcast Production
DHD Elevates the Art of Podcast Production Brie Clayton May 17, 2024 0 Comments Hero image: the DHD DX2 base and expansion modules Latest-generation ...
18/05/2024
Skeem Saam: Friday's episode, 17 May 2024 [video]
Skeem Saam: Friday's episode, 17 May 2024 [video]Missed an episode of Skeem Saam? No problem! Watch the latest episode of your favourite South African soapi...
18/05/2024
Shaka Ilembe' approved for season three
Shaka Ilembe' approved for season threeMzansi Magic's hit series Shaka Ilembe' which stars Nomzama Mbatha has been commissioned for a third season....
17/05/2024
Aerojet Rocketdyne's Camden Site Leverages Modernization Investments to Accelerate Solid Rocket Motor Production
Aerojet Rocketdyne has worked to modernize facilities at its Camden, Arkansas, l...
17/05/2024
FCC Plans to Revise LPTV Rules
The FCC has issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that would revise rules governing low power TV stations (LPTV) in a number of areas, including online ...
17/05/2024
Demystifying Post-Production: Introducing Cinema 4D Particles Week 4
Demystifying Post-Production: Introducing Cinema 4D Particles Week 4 Brie Clayton May 17, 2024 0 Comments With the spring release of Maxon One, we...
17/05/2024
Takashi Yamazaki Film Godzilla Minus One Graded with DaVinci Resolve Studio
Takashi Yamazaki Film Godzilla Minus One Graded with DaVinci Resolve Studio Brie Clayton May 17, 2024 0 Comments Hero image credit: 2023 TOHO CO., LT...
17/05/2024
Sterling Event Group Streamlines Live Event Productions with AJA
Sterling Event Group Streamlines Live Event Productions with AJA Brie Clayton May 17, 2024 0 Comments Live event productions only happen once, which ...
17/05/2024
Meet the product manager
Muster Ngobi, product manager at LYNX Technik tells TVBEurope how the ever-evolving media industry provides a truly dynamic working environment By Matthew Corr...
17/05/2024
TV, Streaming Schedule for 2024 NFL Regular Season Is Released
NEW YORK As declines in linear TV viewing make the ongoing popularity of live sports, particularly football, central to financial success of the TV industry, th...
17/05/2024
Netflix Ad Tier Hits 40M Monthly Active Users
During Netflixs second Upfront presentation to advertisers, Amy Reinhard, Netflix's president of advertising, walked advertisers through the continued growt...
17/05/2024
Scripps Promotes Jeff Kiernan to VP, Local News
CINCINNATI The E.W. Scripps Company has added to its leadership team for news by promoting Jeff Kiernan a veteran journalist and general manager of Scripps'...
17/05/2024
Survey: New Disney-Fox-WBD Sports Streamer May Hurt Pay TV Sub Counts
Top executives from Disney, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery have consistently insisted that their joint venture to launch the Venu Sports streaming bundle in the...
17/05/2024
Caitlin Clark's WNBA Debut Set Viewing Records
ESPN has announced that its coverage of Caitlin Clark's WNBA debut in the Indiana Fever versus the Connecticut Sun season opener was the most-watched WNBA g...
17/05/2024
ATEM Mini Extreme ISO switcher and Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K
ATEM Mini Extreme ISO switcher and Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K Brie Clayton May 16, 2024 0 Comments Blackmagic Design announced today that Yoic...
17/05/2024
Pixomondo's Virtual Production Academy Expands with Programs at Sony PCL, Vook, and Vancouver Film School
Pixomondo's Virtual Production Academy Expands with Programs at Sony PCL, Vo...
17/05/2024
WBD Upfront Show Offers Peeks at House of the Dragon,' White Lotus,' Biden-Trump Debate
The Warner Bros. Discovery upfront presentation took place Wednesday, May 15 at ...
17/05/2024
The Black Keys, Jelly Roll, Kate Hudson Set To Perform on The Voice' Finale
Season 25 of The Voice wraps on NBC Tuesday, May 21, with performances from The Black Keys, Jelly Roll, Kate Hudson, Lainey Wilson, Muni Long, Thomas Rhett and ...
17/05/2024
CNN Boss Mark Thompson's Plan Includes More News in More Categories on More Devices (Upfronts)
New CNN CEO Mark Thompson spelled out his plan for the struggling news network d...
17/05/2024
Netflix To Launch In-House Advertising Tech Platform
Netflix, a newcomer to the advertising business, said it plans to launch an in-house advertising technology platform....