Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

AEW Grand Slam: Dynamite & Collision - Big Sound at Arthur Ashe Stadium

25/09/2024

AEW Grand Slam: Dynamite & Collision - Big Sound at Arthur Ashe Stadium Team produces both in-venue and broadcast audio for the noisy wrestling event By Dan Daley, Audio Editor

Wednesday, September 25, 2024 - 3:31 pm

Print This Story | Subscribe

Story Highlights

Arthur Ashe Stadium has long had noise complaints when it hosts the US Open tennis tournaments, but its neighbors haven't heard anything until they hear the racket generated by the All Elite Wrestling (AEW) Grand Slam: Dynamite & Collision, which takes place there tonight. Spectators at the combined Dynamite and Collision events are expected to fill the venue's nearly 24,000 seats for a raucous evening, which will be broadcast on TBS and, for the first time, live streamed, via PPV Triller TV.

It's the combined events' fourth consecutive year at the stadium, before it heads to Brisbane, Australia, for its first-ever visit there, in February.

Like most AEW events, Grand Slam: Dynamite & Collision is produced in-house, from AEW's own Live Media Group-built truck. The Nashville office of Sound Image, now a Clair Global subsidiary, has operated various AEW events' live-production and broadcast interface for five years.

Wrestling as Theater All wrestling is theater, and the production embraces it as such, boosting the volume and the impact of sound effects to support the wrestlers' mythical narratives and keep the crowds roaring.

It is theater, and it is loud, acknowledges Philip Piercy, crew chief/systems engineer/project audio lead, Sound Image. I've been touring for a long time, with music and events, and this is truly unique. It's interesting to watch and hear the crowds react to how the stories play out on stage, and it's rewarding knowing that I can add to that, adjusting the sound system as the show progresses. It's not linear, like a concert. You're never exactly sure how things will turn out.

Arthur Ashe Stadium preps for the fourth straight year of AEW Grand Slam: Dynamite & Collision.

The PA system takes its audio feed directly from the broadcast truck, its consoles - a DiGiCo Quantum 338 and Calrec Apollo over a Hydra2 network, connected via MADI and Dante, respectively - mixing the live show and broadcast separately and simultaneously. Frequency Coordination Group provides the wireless audio for the event, including backstage and ringside interviews that are simulcast on-air and on the large, curved screen, provided by vendor partner Fuse Video, that Sound Image deploys. Two rotating crews handle sound, video, and lighting, traveling 52 weeks a year and doing two or three live shows every week on Wednesdays and Saturdays, as well as special events, such as Pay Per Views.

We're in charge of all the venue audio, notes Piercy, but we're also providing the control package. So we're in charge of the front-of-house audio, and all of that interacts with the broadcast trucks. All the inputs, playback, commercials, pre-tapes, microphones hit the broadcast truck and are sent to us. Ultimately, it is a TV show first, but the live show energizes the audience and becomes a big part of what the television audience will see and hear.

A JBL VTX A12 sound system installed at Arthur Ashe Stadium helps energize the audience.

What they're hearing comes from various crowd mics deployed throughout the venue, some hung from the lighting rigging used with Ashe Stadium's roof closed (which also further amplifies the interior noise), and from camera-mounted shotgun mics used to pick up the sometimes very physical and contentious interaction between wrestlers even before they get into the ring. There are also key effects microphones, such as the Audix D6 cardioid dynamic mics placed facing upwards beneath the ring's floormat, functioning for wrestling much as they do for the kick-drum microphones they were designed to be for live music.

When they pick up a slam on the mat, the crowd hears that, and it sounds like it really hurts, in the PA system and on the air, Piercy says. It's up to the mixer in the truck how much he uses of that. We get all the same mic inputs as the broadcast does, and we can use any of them in the PA. The crowd gets plenty of sound.

That PA is a JBL VTX A12 system, with seven hangs comprising A12 boxes around the venue, four hangs of A8 boxes in a center cluster, and four hangs of VTX S28 subs, Some B28s are also planned for deployment at the Grand Slam: Dynamite & Collision event.

The event gets bigger in a larger venue, and the music gets louder, Piercy notes, so the sound system has to be bigger, too.

Music Choices It's a large system designed to support a large story, as much opera as sport, with music choices carefully crafted to reveal each wrestler's persona, Not unlike walk-up music played as MLB batters approach the plate, the song tells the wrestler's epic backstory - in a minute or less.

With the entrance songs that these guys walk out to, Piercy points out, you can tell a lot about their character based on whether it's a rock song or a mellow song or something else. Some of the wrestlers have [arrangements] with certain [music] artists, and the crowd knows the songs and associate the character with the song. It's part of the history of the sport. A lot of people might wonder why you need a concert-level PA system for a wrestling match. But it's more than just that. You're seeing an entire story unfold.
LINK: https://www.sportsvideo.org/2024/09/25/aew-grand-slam-dynamite-collisi...
See more stories from svg

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

06/09/2026

Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA World Cup 2026 in Germany with Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos

June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...

04/08/2026

Dalet Announces Commercial Availability of Dalia, Bringing Media-Aware Agentic AI to Enterprise Productions

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

04/07/2026

Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in Dolby Cinemas Across Japan, Presented in Dolby Atmos and Dolby ...

April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...

17/06/2026

EVS Achieves EcoVadis Gold Medal, Ranking in Top 5% of Companies Globally

EVS has announced it has received the EcoVadis Gold Medal for sustainability performance, ranking among the top 5% of companies globally in the Technology/Mid-S...

17/06/2026

Chyron Releases Weather 2.4 with Updated DataFlow Module

Chyron has released Weather 2.4, an update to its weather suite for broadcasters and meteorologists. The release focuses on enhancements to the DataFlow module,...

17/06/2026

VSiN Launches Best Bets TV, a 24/7 FAST Channel

VSiN, The Sports Betting Network, has announced the launch of Best Bets TV, a free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) channel. The 24/7 channel is currently avail...

17/06/2026

Snapchat and Team Whistle Launch World Cup Creator Program Across Miami, New York, and Los Angeles

DAZN's Team Whistle and Snap Inc. have announced a creator program centered ...

17/06/2026

LiveU Supporting Broadcast and Public Safety Operations for Summer of Soccer

LiveU is providing video transmission technology for broadcasters, production companies, and public safety agencies across North America's busy Summer of So...

17/06/2026

NATAS Announces Two New Board Members and COO Promotion

The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) has announced that Laurens Grant and Jacob Ullman have joined its Board of Directors. Chief of Staf...

17/06/2026

Akta Brings AI-First Cloud Video Workflows to Oracle Cloud Infrastructure

Akta, the AI-First SaaS video platform for modern broadcast and streaming operations, today announced that its video platform is now generally available on Orac...

17/06/2026

SVG Students to Watch: Nicholas Stafford, Texas Southern University

This recent graduate from Houston found inspiration in technical directing and now eyes a future career in sports production...

17/06/2026

InfoComm 2026: Audio-Technica Brings New Wireless, Networked Audio, and Certified Conferencing Solutions

Audio-Technica (booth C7959) arrives at InfoComm 2026 in Las Vegas with a slate ...

17/06/2026

SNS Positions AI Suite as On-Premise Answer to Video Indexing and Search Demands

SNS has published a guide addressing growing demand for AI-powered video indexing, transcription, facial recognition, and searchable metadata across media libra...

17/06/2026

Providius Announces Providius Direct for Network Troubleshooting on NETGEAR Pro AV Switches

Providius has announced Providius Direct, a workflow for investigating network i...

17/06/2026

NEP Launches NEP Platform Software Orchestration System, Selects Bridge Technologies VB440

NEP Group has announced the commercial availability of NEP Platform, a software ...

17/06/2026

BBright White Paper: SRT vs. RIST for Professional Video Contribution and Distribution

A new white paper examining Secure Reliable Transport (SRT) and Reliable Interne...

17/06/2026

Bango Research: 51% of Gen Z Say Highlights Are Replacing Live Games

New research from subscription bundling platform Bango finds that younger sports fans are increasingly consuming sport through highlights, clips, and social med...

17/06/2026

SMPTE Opens Entire Standards Library to Public at No Cost

SMPTE has announced that its complete Standards catalog is now freely available to the global media technology community, including all published SMPTE Standard...

17/06/2026

MediaKind Completes Merger with Harmonic's Video Business, Creating Independent Video Infrastructure Heavyweight

Harmonic has completed the sale of its Video Business to MediaKind for $145 mill...

17/06/2026

Omaha Productions to Produce 2026 World Series of Poker Main Event Coverage for ESPN

Omaha Productions will produce the 2026 World Series of Poker (WSOP) in Las Vega...

17/06/2026

SoundBridge 3.1.0 now available

New features, changes & bug fixes SoundBridge have just released another update for their remote collaboration-focused DAW - reviewed here in SOS March 2026...

17/06/2026

Fryette launch the Valvulator Mini

Valve-based front end for digital & modelling rigs The latest addition to Fryette's product range delivers a packed-down, pedalboard-friendly version of...

17/06/2026

The Biggest UK Pro Audio Show In 20 Years!

GearExpo UK - 27 June 2026 Sound On Sound are proud to announce GearExpo UK, a major new recording and music technology exhibition in London! This is the bi...

17/06/2026

Genelec introduce the 9402A System Management Device

SAM monitoring line-up gains Dante and AES67 support The latest expansion of Genelec's UNIO monitoring ecosystem introduces a new device that provides D...

17/06/2026

The R&SPR300 portable receiver from Rohde & Schwarz sets new standards in spectrum monitoring

The R&S PR300 portable receiver from Rohde & Schwarz sets new standards in spect...

17/06/2026

Elt Group and Rohde & Schwarz sign a cooperation agreement to explore commercial opportunities in electronic warfare and defense

Elt Group and Rohde & Schwarz sign a cooperation agreement to explore commercial...

17/06/2026

NABLF Graduates Its 2026 Broadcasting Leadership Training Class

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

17/06/2026

ABC and ESPN Score Most-Watched NBA Finals Since 1998

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

17/06/2026

Smartly, Roku Bring Social Performance Tools to CTV

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

17/06/2026

Pliant Technologies Debuts Crewcom Flex at InfoComm 2026

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

17/06/2026

The Immersive Supervisor Emerges as Hollywood's Next Production Role

The Immersive Supervisor Emerges as Hollywood's Next Production Role Brie Clayton June 17, 2026 0 Comments Above image: On set live immersive revi...

17/06/2026

Vertical Musical Playback Shot with Blackmagic PYXIS 6K

Vertical Musical Playback Shot with Blackmagic PYXIS 6K Brie Clayton June 17, 2026 0 Comments Large format sensor and DaVinci Resolve workflow used fo...

17/06/2026

DAZ 3D Launches New Game-Ready Character Assets Built for Modern Engines and Production Workflows

DAZ 3D Launches New Game-Ready Character Assets Built for Modern Engines and Pro...

17/06/2026

Spectrum Awards $1.1 Million in Digital Education Grants

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

17/06/2026

XR Sports Alliance Adds New Members

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

17/06/2026

AIMS Launches Free Online IPMX Training Series

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

17/06/2026

Kiloview Partners with SFM to Expand AV-over-IP Solutions...

Montr al, Quebec, June 11, 2026 Kiloview, a leading provider of AV-over-IP and NDI -based video transmission solutions, today announced a distribution partner...

17/06/2026

Kiloview Launches U4 IP Video Dock Bringing Professional...

Changsha, China, June 15, 2026 Kiloview officially announced the launch of U4 IP Video Dock, a compact IP video decoder and output dock designed to bring prof...

17/06/2026

Half Year, Half Off! Ivory II Summer Sale is Here

Save 50% on All Ivory II Pianos and Collections Were halfway through the year, and we're cutting prices in half for the Ivory II Summer Sale! For a limite...

17/06/2026

Two in three fans will connect to venue WiFi this World Cup, Sky Business research reveals

Wednesday 17 June 2026 Two in three fans will connect to venue WiFi this World ...

17/06/2026

Visibility builds credibility - the tools you use every day...

Visibility builds credibility - the tools you use every day, now visible on your LinkedIn profile Published on Jun 17, 2026 Categories: Company News, Product ...

17/06/2026

Harmonic Completes Divestiture of Video Business to MediaKind

Transaction Positions Harmonic as a Pure-Play Broadband Company SAN JOSE, Calif. - June 17, 2026 - Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ: HLIT), the worldwide leader in virtual...

17/06/2026

FOX Advertising To Launch Industry's First End-to-End Agentic Advertising Platform, Powered by FOX AdStudio

FOX Advertising To Launch Industry's First End-to-End Agentic Advertising Pl...

17/06/2026

Building resilience in an era of compounding threats

How SGN is future-proofing critical national infrastructure with Arqiva Managed Connectivity. When disruption becomes the norm As Storm Eunice tore across the ...

17/06/2026

Good Vibrations hit Dublin and Limerick as RT Concert Orchestra plays the music of the Beach Boys

The RT Concert Orchestra will bring the timeless music of The Beach Boys to aud...

17/06/2026

June 16, 2026

Calibr-Skaggs awarded $5.1M by NIH to develop long-acting hepatitis B virus therapy A new program aims to replace a daily HBV drug with once-monthly or even qua...

16/06/2026

Thomson launches new learning App

Thomson's highly regarded expert-led online learning courses are now easier to access on the go via our new App. Available now on Google Play Store, the J...

16/06/2026

Neumann MT 48 Receives Major Firmware 2.0 Update

Neumann.Berlin has released firmware version 2.0 for the MT 48 audio interface, adding plugin compatibility, expanded Dante networking options, broadcast encode...

16/06/2026

TVNewsCheck Opens Nominations for 2027 Women in Technology Awards

TVNewsCheck has announced that nominations are now open for its 2027 Women in Technology Awards, to be presented at NAB Show 2027 on Tuesday, April 6 in the Med...