
ESPN Deploys Pair of MindFly BodyCams on Referees for UFL Semifinal Matchup on ABC The technology will also be used on umpires for next week's College World Series By Jason Dachman, Editorial Director, U.S.
Friday, June 7, 2024 - 11:54 am
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
As ESPN's inaugural United Football League (UFL) campaign comes to a close, the production team continues to up the innovation quotient. The broadcaster will deploy a MindFly BodyCam on two referees as part of its UFL Semifinal game between Detroit and Birmingham, AL, Saturday on ABC. In addition, the wearable-camera technology will return for ESPN's College World Series coverage on first- and second-base umpires later this month.
One of ESPN's priorities is Innovation, says Jarrett Baker, manager, remote operations, ESPN. Sometimes, it is hard to appreciate how quickly plays occur, and wearable cameras close the gap between being on the field and watching on the best-available screen.
MindFly developed an AI-stabilized POV camera with a built-in microphone, smaller than a credit card, which is mounted inside a chest vest. The camera, battery, and transmitter are protected by D30 Decell padding to ensure that athletes and officials stay safe. Refs wear the rig under their jerseys with a small slit cut into the fabric for the lens.
An official's jersey is slit to accommodate the lens of a MindFly POV camera mounted in a chest vest.
MindFly takes fans onto the field in a revolutionary way, says Baker. There are several other options in this space, but the AI stabilization looks like a gimbal-stabilized lens.
The system transmits in the 5 GHz or 6 GHz Wi-Fi spectrum using two receivers on the field and one at the midfield camera position in the stands. MindFly can deliver the feed to the cloud, but ESPN is taking a baseband 1080p/59.94 feed onsite. Two camera feeds are transmitted to ESPN's Bristol, CT, facility as part of its REMI mux.
MindFly is used primarily for replays and bumps, but the production team could take it live at any point - particularly in the scrum after a fumble.
Practice Makes Perfect: UFL Provides Fertile Testing Ground ESPN tested the system during the May 18 game between the Houston Roughnecks and Birmingham Stallions, deploying the BodyCam on the side judge and umpire. The broadcaster will continue to use two cameras on officials but may select a different on-field official for better angles during plays. Several clips made air during the May 18 test, and Baker expects even more airtime this weekend.
Our partners have enabled us to start with referees, he says. We hope that players will eventually wear body cameras in-game. Other sport groups at ESPN are exploring this with the relevant sanctioning bodies. Technological enhancements have enabled fandom to skyrocket, and teams and leagues continue to increase in popularity.
Led by SVP, Technology, Scott Harniman, the UFL has made of point of using technology to enhance the fan experience both at home and in the venue in an effort to grow the fan base. For example, the league allows broadcasters to access coach-to-coach and coach-to-player communications, live video talkbacks with the centralized replay team, and TrU Line first-down measurements. According to Baker, the league has approved all of ESPN's testing requests, including a recent offline demo of a system that may be used on football this fall.
We are very pleased with the first UFL season and are looking forward to next year, says Baker. It's exciting to know that we can explore the newest tech on the market at any point during the season. Technical challenges were few and far between, but each one was resolved quickly. We will meet with the league and FOX this summer to debrief and strategize how to make Season 2 even better.
What's Next? College World Series, NHL, College Basketball Later this month, ESPN plans to deploy MindFly BodyCams on first- and second-base umpires during the College World Series, replicating efforts at the end of the SEC baseball tournament. With the umpires' perfect positioning, ESPN VP, Production, Phil Orlins expects intimate and decisive shots of close plays throughout the games.
We will also get action shots around the bases that the umpire positions himself ideally to watch, he says. Lastly, we tend to get some fun moments from these cameras as well.
According to Orlins, the ESPN is currently exploring how MindFly BodyCams could potentially be deployed for other sports. To date, the technology has been used on PLL lacrosse and tested NHL and college basketball.
The tech produces a high-quality picture, notes Orlins. The 4K capture with stabilization provides a comfortable viewing experience. The most important aspect is that the BodyCam vest is quite comfortable for athletes and referees to wear and has been embraced by them more often than not. The most important thing is that the subject is comfortable wearing the camera.
More from Sports Video Group
22/04/2026
Solid State Logic is advancing its System T platform with a stronger focus on IP...
22/04/2026
From immersive audio to live streaming, Dolby Laboratories is focused on the fut...
22/04/2026
Shallow depth-of-field cameras have taken the industry by storm. Its debut a han...
22/04/2026
Riedel Communications (Booth C4908) announced that Eastern Kentucky University (...
22/04/2026
The NAB Show is in full swing, and the SVG and SVG Europe editorial teams are chasing down the hottest stories from all over the Las Vegas Convention Center. He...
22/04/2026
Blackmagic Design has announced the URSA Cine 12K LF 100G, a new model in the URSA Cine family adding 100G Ethernet for SMPTE 2110 live production output up to ...
22/04/2026
Celebrating its 40th anniversary, NEP is leaning into hybrid production with the...
22/04/2026
NEP VP, Platform Dan Murphy sits down at the 2026 NAB Show to unpack what NEP P...
21/04/2026
Cloud-based production isnt going anywhere, and BitFire is doubling down by prov...
21/04/2026
The topic of artificial intelligence has a stranglehold on the sports-video-prod...
21/04/2026
5G is still a hot topic in live event production, and this workflow continues to...
21/04/2026
At the 2026 NAB Show, Ed McGivern, GM and President of Appear US, discusses the ...
21/04/2026
Studio Network Solutions (SNS) has announced an on-premise AI suite designed for...
21/04/2026
Suite Studios has integrated its file-streaming technology into the newly announced Frame.io Drive, a desktop application from Adobe company Frame.io. The colla...
21/04/2026
Net Insight has integrated InSync Technology's FrameFormer into the Nimbra E...
21/04/2026
Fox Sports has selected Appear as a technology partner to support the next phase...
21/04/2026
Diversified has appointed Tyler Affolter as Chief Revenue Officer (CRO) to lead the company's commercial organisation. The appointment follows the firm'...
21/04/2026
Layercake has formalised the integration of Bitmovin's video streaming infra...
21/04/2026
The International Judo Federation (IJF) has extended its distribution partnershi...
21/04/2026
Glookast has launched the Cinnafilm Tachyon plugin for its Media Producer and Me...
21/04/2026
Eutelsat has entered into an agreement with Cadena Tres, a division of Grupo Ima...
21/04/2026
Dolby Laboratories and TV Azteca have partnered to introduce Dolby Atmos immersive audio to free-to-air television broadcasts. The implementation utilises the A...
21/04/2026
FOX Entertainment partnered with Verizon to overcome significant production hurd...
21/04/2026
Osprey Video has announced its technology showcase for the NAB Show 2026, highli...
21/04/2026
Riedel Communications (Booth C4908) introduced a range of new solutions at NAB S...
21/04/2026
The NAB Show is in full swing, and the SVG and SVG Europe editorial teams are chasing down the hottest stories from all over the Las Vegas Convention Center. He...
21/04/2026
Blackmagic Design has announced the URSA Cine Immersive 100G, an immersive cinem...
21/04/2026
Clark Wire & Cable is continuing its evolution from cable supplier to full-scale solutions partner for broadcast and live production. At the 2026 NAB Show, we s...
20/04/2026
At the 2026 NAB Show, Sony is showcasing a broad slate of innovations across liv...
20/04/2026
At the 2026 NAB Show, Canon is doubling down on its commitment to live sports pr...
20/04/2026
Fujifilm is sharpening its focus on core broadcast production with a new wave of...
20/04/2026
This upcoming summer in North America is going to be a busy one. The 2026 FIFA M...
20/04/2026
Glookast (Booth W1661) announced a series of product updates at NAB Show 2026, c...
20/04/2026
Matrox Video and Amagi announced a collaboration to integrate the Matrox ORIGIN ...
20/04/2026
Riedel Communications (Booth C4908) announced that the Asociaci n del F tbol Arg...
20/04/2026
Ikegami (Booth C3819) announced the VFE-P07D monocular OLED viewfinder at NAB Sh...
20/04/2026
International Association of MediaTech (IAMT), formerly known as IABM, announced...
20/04/2026
Harmonic (Booth W2831) announced that DIRECTV is updating its US direct-to-home (DTH) video platform using Harmonic's VOS Media Software.
The deployment is...
20/04/2026
Wasabi Technologies announced that it has acquired the Lyve Cloud business from Seagate Technology. As part of the agreement, Seagate received equity in Wasabi ...
20/04/2026
EVS (Booth N1841) has launched Choreon, a robotics controller for media producti...
20/04/2026
The NAB Show is in full swing, and the SVG and SVG Europe editorial teams are chasing down the hottest stories from all over the Las Vegas Convention Center. He...
20/04/2026
Skyline Communications announced the availability of its DataMiner xOps platform...
20/04/2026
Studio Network Solutions (Booth N1129) introduced a set of new products at NAB S...
20/04/2026
Dell Technologies is showcasing its Dell AI Data Platform with NVIDIA at NAB Sho...
20/04/2026
Blackmagic Design has announced Fairlight Live, a software-based live audio mixer with SMPTE 2110 support and spatial audio mixing. A public beta is available n...
20/04/2026
At the 2026 NAB Show in Las Vegas, Imagine Communications VP of Sales, Sports an...
20/04/2026
At the 2026 NAB Show in Las Vegas, LiveU Senior Director of Sales, Sports Philli...
19/04/2026
Blackmagic Design has announced the ATEM 4 M/E Constellation IP and ATEM 4 M/E Constellation IP Plus, two SMPTE 2110-native live production switchers. The ATEM ...
19/04/2026
Grass Valley is finding the right balance between its hardware heritage with an ...
19/04/2026
Oracle's strategy rests on the foundational strengths of Oracle Cloud Infras...