Live From MLB All-Star 2022: MLB Network Hits the City of Angels for the 2022 MLB Draft at L.A. Live The second onsite Draft will take place in an outdoor stage on Xbox Plaza By Kristian Hern ndez, Associate Editor Sunday, July 17, 2022 - 12:10 pm
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Known as the town where dreamers come to achieve their wildest aspirations, Hollywood is a fitting city to host those fortunate enough to hear their name called during the 2022 MLB Draft. MLB Network (MLBN) is airing their coverage of Day 1 on Sunday, July 17 in a big way: a large stage in front of L.A. Live in Downtown Los Angeles.
We've been in good hands working alongside the crew at L.A. Live, and this show has been well thought out and planned, says Susan Stone, SVP, operations and engineering, MLB Network. A lot has gone into making this production successful.
Early Days of Planning: Multiple Visits and Production Meetings Begin the Process Despite this being a one-day broadcast, the work that has been done on this show dates back to the early months of 2022. Prior to the start of the regular season, the network's production staff starts to think about potential ideas. As it gets closer to the first game of the year, Coordinating Producer Marc Weiner and the rest of the department kick it into overdrive. The crew is focused on other tasks during the year, like daily programming emanating from their Secaucus, NJ studios, but as prognosticators and experts in Major League Baseball write their draft projections or make amendments to previous mock drafts, the production is always changing to cater to these new storylines.
Zaac Christopher, Jacob Soto, Tom Guidice, Susan Stone, and Marc Weiner on the main Draft set.
Every time new rankings are published, I'm updating our spreadsheet and sending it around to our team, says Weiner. We're ready to discuss over 500 players, so I can't say enough about how much our research, graphics, and edit teams prepared [for this show].
Operationally, Stone, VP, Remote Operations Tom Guidice, Production Managers Emma Roberts and David Beun, and the crew began outlining their plan in Los Angeles in March. After a total of three onsite visits, the team had a general idea of how much real estate they were receiving and how they could fit their footprint within those parameters. Tapping into the year-round sunny weather, MLB Network opted to bring this show outside of L.A. Live on Xbox Plaza. After taking the MLB Draft Combine from the U.S. Baseball National Training Complex in Cary, NC in 2021 to Petco Park in San Diego last month, the network wanted to partner with the league to elevate the significance of this year's first-player Draft. Working closely with MLB's VP, Events Jeremiah Yolkut to devise a stunning and covered structure, the Draft will be housed on the biggest stage to date. The roofed section features a large-scale Draft Board to help attendees keep track of first round picks in the, a runway for players to walk down and shake hands with MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred, and iconography of Los Angeles, including palms trees, hills, rocks, and a Draft billboard in the spirit of the Hollywood Sign.
The league's operations and events team helped us push this event to the next level, says Marc Caiafa, SVP, production, MLB Network. It was a collective effort between the both of us.
Down in Downtown: Mobile Units Park Two Blocks Away at Crypto.com Arena The A and B unit of Game Creek Video's Gridiron will be leading the onsite responsibilities, but since Los Angeles is an extremely congested metropolitan city, the crew isn't able to have their mobile units parked right next to the Draft stage. Utilizing the surroundings that are situated around this entertainment district, the trucks will be parked at Crypto.com Arena - a quick three-minute walk from the stage. Tasked with hosting home games of four professional franchises - the NBA's Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers, the NHL's Los Angeles Kings, and the WNBA's Los Angeles Sparks - the venue is more than able to provide reliable connectivity.
The studio set is leveraging a jib camera.
L.A. Live has been accommodating with all of the fiber that we have running from here to the arena, says Zaac Christopher, remote technical manager, MLB Network. We're able to have the trucks two blocks down the street and still have a seamless production.
MLB Network is preparing redundancies for every need possible in the broadcast compound. Alongside the Game Creek truck, the network's Saunders Electric UPS system will be fed by house power and will flip to a generator in case of an emergency.
Onsite Equipment: Camera Complement, Studio Set Cover the Picks Within the limits of L.A. Live, MLBN will flood the area with high-quality hardware. The broadcast will be centralized around the primary hard camera focused on the Commissioner's podium. Additional hard cameras will cover two slash positions of the main stage area. Two jibs will cover both angles of the Draft setup: one facing toward the main studio set and another on the opposite side that's covering the crowd, seating area for families, and the stage. Two RF handhelds, provided by CP Communications, will rove throughout the environment as well as another handheld camera dedicated to the reporter's position near the stairs leading to the stage. Other cameras also include a robotic camera, provided by Fletcher, at the top of Crypto.com Arena to establish beauty shots of Sunday's atmosphere. Similar to previous Drafts, MLBN will provide feeds to ESPN for their first-round Draft broadcast.
Aside from their three cameras for their set, a handheld, and reporter position, we're sharing a lot of resources with ESPN, adds Stone. That has continued to be a g
