CONCACAF's Miguel Angel Garcia on the Gold Cup's Enhanced 2025 Production Plan Semis on tap for tonight, with more cameras than ever By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director Wednesday, July 2, 2025 - 1:55 pm
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The U.S. will be at the center of the soccer universe next summer when it (along with Mexico and Canada) hosts the 2026 FIFA World Cup. But summer 2025 has its share of global football, with two tournaments comprising more than 100 total matches over five weeks: the CONCACAF Gold Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup. Top of mind this week are the CONCACAF Semifinals tonight and Final on Sunday. Next week, it's FIFA's turn to shine.
Production of the CONCACAF Gold Cup has featured additional cameras for the Semis and Final, more non-live coverage throughout the tournament, and additional social-media content.
Overall, things have been going very well, says Miguel Angel Garcia, director, broadcast and media strategy, CONCACAF. We've seen significant progress in attendance as we entered the Knockout Stage so we're excited for the two Semifinals tonight, which should be great. And we're looking forward to a good Final on Sunday at NRG Stadium in Houston. The quality of play on the pitch has been amazing.
CONCACAF's Miguel Angel Garcia has spent much of the Gold Cup being on site for Mexico and U.S.A matches.
Garcia and his team have spent the tournament visiting every venue to make sure rightsholders are happy and the productions are going well. They also work closely with Host Broadcast Services (HBS), which is handling match production.
I follow the U.S. and Mexico matches because they have our biggest broadcasters involved, he says. We haven't stopped moving during the past month.
For match production and stadium technical support, Game Creek Video has provided facilities at 11 of the 14 venues, and Live Media Group provided facility support at PayPal Park in San Jose, CA; Q2 Stadium in Austin; and Shell Energy Stadium in Houston.
Both Game Creek and LMG [supply] experienced tech managers and EICs, Garcia notes. HBS complements that with the directors and operators, and we end up with a talented crew.
Mediapro's Miami production center is home to the IBC for the 2025 CONCACAF Gold Cup.
While Garcia is on the move, there is a team staying put: those who work at the International Broadcast Center, located at Mediapro's Miami-based production center, where HBS and CONCACAF work in two control rooms and other production areas. It is there that CONCACAF finalizes broadcast feeds, creates digital content, and creates pre/postmatch content, feature stories, and other packages.
We distribute everything to our rightsholders via a team of about 50 people from Mediapro, our staff, and HBS, says Garcia. They manage quality control and the world feed, which has English commentary and graphics. But the entire scope includes managing all the different feeds and the iso feeds that are part of the booking for rightsholders. And then there are the safety nets. It's all very complex.
Three feeds are produced by CONCACAF: one for TelevisaUnivision in Mexico, one for Fox Sports and Univision in the U.S., and one for Latin American rightsholders like ESPN. All feeds are available in 1080p HDR. The Switch/Tata handling distribution to rightsholders via fiber and SRT; Peak Technologies provides satellite-delivery support as well.
No rightsholders have a presence at the IBC but are onsite at the various venues, producing unilateral commentary and pitch-side reporting. We manage all the connectivity [via The Switch and Tata] and support our rightsholders, with TGI Sport also being present at the venues, Garcia explains.
Two HBS Production Teams The HBS presence across the U.S. this month is massive. The host-broadcast specialist is at the center of both CONCACAF's and FIFA's efforts. To ensure that everything goes well for both, there are two distinct HBS production teams, each fully focused on one tournament.
That was our main ask of HBS, says Garcia. It has worked well.
Production teams have been working with 21 cameras but tonight the number of camera sources jumps to 27 for the semis and final on Sunday.
Enrique Rabasco is head of HBS for the Gold Cup project and helps oversee four core production teams are handling match coverage with four directors: Oscar Lagos Dom nguez, head of sports match production, Mediapro; Danny Melger from the Netherlands and Brad Coates from Canada. Jon Robbers from the Dutch team had to step in to direct their group stage matches due to Melger having to fly back to Europe for family reasons ( He did a fantastic job, adds Garcia. Each director brings in their key staff from their country, composed of a technical director, producer, production manager, floor manager, A1, replay operators and camera operators. This key staff team is then supplemented by talent from the CONCACAF region.
The team from the CONCACAF region is made up of professionals from the Caribbean, Central America, Mexico, and Canada, Garcia explains. We wanted to bring their knowledge of the region to the main tournament. It has been very rewarding to see the progress as they elevate the quality.
Preparation and getting everyone on the same page are always a big challenge for a tournament with so many moving pieces, but CONCACAF held a prematch production workshop with all four core production teams (directors, producers, production managers) to identify issues and ensure that messaging is the same for all the crews.
Everybody left that meeting knowing who was doing what and the roles Live Media Group, Game Creek Video, and TGI Sport would play, says Garcia. It was a full day, but it was worth it and elevated the production quality.
Covering It All Every Gol
