USFL Kickoff: Fox Sports, NBC Sports Aim To Revolutionize Football Coverage With Specialty Cameras, 32 Miked Players All games will be produced in 1080p HDR with many upconverted to 4K By Jason Dachman, Chief Editor
Friday, April 15, 2022 - 3:16 pm
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Although several spring football leagues have popped up in recent years, none have come close to packing the production-technology punch that is expected in USFL broadcasts. The league, which is majority-owned by Fox Sports, kicks off this weekend with a simulcast of its first game on both Fox and fellow broadcast partner NBC. Regardless of the quality of play on the field, one thing is for sure: the broadcast will look unlike any football game you've watched before.
Since the outset, the directive from [Fox Sports CEO/Executive Producer and USFL Chairman] Eric Shanks and [Fox Sports President, Production and Operations/Executive Producer], Brad Zager was to come up with technology that meaningfully complements the game on the field, says Mike Davies, SVP, field operations, Fox Sports. As league owners, we can work seamlessly with USFL football operations to integrate these elements - and we swung for the fences on quite a bit of it.
A New Era: Production Technology at the Core of USFL Broadcasts All games will be produced in 1080p HDR, and more than half the Fox games will be available as 4K HDR upconverted broadcasts. Fox Sports will carry 22 games (12 on Fox, 10 on FS1); NBC Sports will present 21 games (eight on NBC, nine on USA Network, four on Peacock). The league will call Birmingham, AL, home for the entire regular season (with the majority of games played in the recently opened Protective Stadium) before shifting to Canton, OH, for the Playoffs at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium.
With the production and engineering teams essentially given carte blanche to think big, these broadcasts will feature bleeding-edge production tools rarely, if ever, seen on NFL broadcasts.
A high-speed drone is among the many innovative cameras being used for USFL coverage in Birmingham this season.
Among the highlights: high-speed drones, HelmetCams on four players, dual Skycams (one behind the offense, one behind the defense), RF wireless 3X-super-slow cameras on the field, 16 player microphones per team, full access to the coach and ref comms systems, an automated first-down measuring system with accompanying animations (think Hawk-Eye for tennis), and, possibly, even a glowing football in key situations (remember FoxTrax on NHL games in the '90s?). Plus, the 10-week regular season looks to be the biggest Home Run Production effort Fox has ever undertaken.
What we're doing is unprecedented, says Fox Sports producer Chuck McDonald, who will be at the front bench for Fox's USFL productions. I don't know of anybody who has ever had this kind of opportunity. No one has ever had a blank slate where you are asked, How would you like to cover the best television sport that exists if you had no limits?'. That's how it has been approached from the beginning, and I can't wait to see what we do as the season goes on because it's just going to get better.
Not Your Granddad's Cameras: Custom Drone, HelmetCams, Dual Skycams Beverly Hills Aerials has designed a custom-built drone specifically for the USFL that is as fast as a racing drone but is roughly the size of your open hands together.
Who is ready to fly?
See every game on @FOXSports and @NBCSports from above with the help of drones, starting next Saturday! pic.twitter.com/VkmPs5nz5G
USFL (@USFL) April 9, 2022
While the use of dual Skycam aerial systems has become more common for high-profile NFL and college football games, USFL broadcasts will use the pair in a very different fashion. The low Skycam will be in the usual configuration just behind the offense, but the high version will be used primarily on the defensive side of the play with a 25X lens, allowing the production team to isolate a player or route to better capture action coming at the camera.
ActionStreamer is providing four HelmetCams per game (two for each team), and CP Communications is on hand with two RefCams.
Here s what it looks like to catch a TD pass from @BryanScottQb
Get ready for more Helmet Cam starting next Saturday on @FOXSports and @NBCSports. pic.twitter.com/B4ZfN5onl0
Philadelphia Stars (@USFLStars) April 9, 2022
3G Wireless is providing three RF 3X-super-slow wireless handheld cameras: two handhelds and one Steadicam (Week 1 will feature two Steadicams).
In addition to the drone, dual Skycams, four HelmetCams, and two RefCams, the broadcast will deploy four PylonCam systems located in the end zones (with three cameras per pylon) and two line-to-gain wireless PylonCam systems on the field.
In all, Fox and NBC will deploy 56 cameras in Birmingham, including 20+ for coverage (eight of them super-slo-mo), four for the coaches booth, and two dedicated to the play audio iso shots.
We're trying to make a concerted effort to make this look and feel and sound different from what you would see on an NFL Sunday, says NBC Sports producer Matt Marvin, who will be at the front bench for NBC this weekend and split USFL games with producer Steven Greenberg throughout the season. With that in mind, there are plenty of new and different cameras and audio [elements] that we think are going to create an entirely new experience [for viewers].
CLICK HERE for Fox Sports and NBC Sports Producers on Creating a Totally Different Kind of Football Broadcast'
Audio All About Access: Player Mics, Coach Comms, Transparent Officiating All USFL game productions will deploy 16 Q5X player mics per team, all available to use live via a player-mic audio submixer. The system, which is being provided and managed by CP Comm
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USFL Kickoff: Fox Sports, NBC Sports Aim To Revolutionize Football Coverage With Specialty Cameras, 32 Miked Players All games will be produced in 1080p HDR with many upconverted to 4K By Jason Dachman, Chief Editor 
