NBC Sports Aims To Repeat Production, Operational Success in Second MLB Sunday Leadoff Season on Peacock

NBC Sports Aims To Repeat Production, Operational Success in Second MLB Sunday Leadoff Season on Peacock Early-morning games leverage feeds from home mobile unit, remote graphics from Stamford By Kristian Hern ndez, Senior Editor

Friday, May 12, 2023 - 10:36 am

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Avid fans of Major League Baseball are continuing to receive a generous gift during the 2023 season: early-morning action during NBC Sports' MLB Sunday Leadoff on Peacock. In its second season, production and operations teams are improving the high-quality shows with newly integrated technology deployed throughout the league, including RF Wireless's UmpVu camera system and remote graphics from Stamford, CT.

We're showing 28 of 30 teams, and our schedule will include a handful of excellent games, says Matt Borzello, producer, NBC Sports. This year, we learned how to fine-tune our production setup to be the most efficient possible.

Inside the Judge's Eye: UmpVu Leads Off the Tech Lineup Deployed for such games as the Men's College World Series and the Little League Baseball World Series, a wearable POV camera on the mask of the home-plate umpire has returned to the professional circuit.

Developed by RF Wireless, the technology was used on the 2022 MLB All-Star Game in Los Angeles. The device is being deployed by a good chunk of the league's broadcast partners - ESPN, Fox, Apple TV, NBC Sports - throughout the current regular season. Outfitted with a Marshall camera, RF transmitter, and casing customized to the umpire's desired headwear, the cameras display unique POV angles from behind the dish. Whether it's a fastball buzzing in at 100 mph, a hanging slider crushed into the gap, or a pitch disappearing at the last second, what the umpire sees is a dynamic way of watching any game.

This is currently the only Umpire Cam approved by Major League Baseball, says Borzello. We'll look to use that on selected games.

From left: Matt Vasgersian, Ben McDonald, and Andruw Jones in the booth during Baltimore Orioles vs. Atlanta Braves on May 7

Besides UmpVu, every MLB game on Peacock taps into 15 video feeds: nine hards, robotics in each dugout and bullpen, one RF handheld, and the network's version of a shallow-depth-of-field camera, a RED Komodo cinematic camera on a M VI gimbal.

Combo Infrastructure: Home Mobile Unit, Remote Workflows Outside of a handful of games where a dedicated production truck will be onsite, NBC Sports will produce its shows through the onsite mobile unit of the home regional sports network. Depending on the location, the productions will rely on either Mobile TV Group or Game Creek Video mobile units.

Offsite and remote workflows will supplement the shows. Graphics and scorebug operations, for example, will be handled at the broadcaster's headquarters in Stamford. Other crucial production elements, such as integration of remote contributors, will reside at their respective homes or other locations.

In addition, says Borzello, our virtual signage will be provided by Pitchcast, which comes out of Secaucus, NJ. We are also utilizing Zoom to incorporate baseball experts to analyze pitching, fantasy sports, and legalized sports betting.

On-Air Rotation: Game Analysts Match Participating Teams, Cities Nick Swisher (left) and Ahmed Fareed on the field at Truist Park

As in last year's inaugural season, MLB Sunday Leadoff will incorporate different analysts who have a connection to the two teams on the field. For example, five-time All-Star and 10-time Gold Glove winner Andruw Jones represented the Atlanta Braves, and the No. 1 pick in the 1989 MLB Draft Ben McDonald represented the Baltimore Orioles, former outfielder Dexter Fowler the Colorado Rockies, and former GM Ruben Amaro Jr. the Philadelphia Phillies. Current Bally Sports Florida analyst Tommy Hutton represented the Miami Marlins, current Marquee Sports Network analyst Ryan Sweeney the Chicago Cubs. For the Mother's Day edition featuring the Los Angeles Angels vs. Cleveland Guardians on Sunday, May 14 at 11:35 a.m. ET, current Bally Sports West analyst Mark Gubicza will represent the Angels, current Bally Sports Great Lakes analyst Rick Manning the Guardians.

Brendan Burke, who provides play-by-play commentary for New York Islanders broadcasts on MSG Networks and for NHL on TNT games, has been named lead voice for MLB Sunday Leadoff. He will assume the role for the New York Yankees-Cincinnati Reds matchup on Sunday, May 21 after the conclusion of the NHL playoffs.

Two familiar names have been behind the mic for Sunday-morning games. Matt Vasgersian, play-by-play announcer for selected Los Angeles Angels games and studio host for MLB Network, was on the call for the MLB Sunday Leadoff season opener between the Rockies and Phillies on April 23 and for Braves vs. Orioles on May 7. Chris Vosters, who provides play-by-play for the Chicago Blackhawks on NBC Sports Chicago, was in the booth for the Cubs vs. Miami Marlins on April 21 and will be at Progressive Field this weekend.

Setting the table, host Ahmed Fareed and analyst Nick Swisher lend their talents to pre/postgame coverage.

All for One, One for All: NBC Sports Pitches in To Execute Early-Morning Magic After the teams' rookie year in 2022, Borzello and company went back to the drawing board to refine their approach for the new season. One of the major hurdles in playing games early in the day was the shortened turnaround time and the crew's early call time. For a show that travels to various locations, it's important to make sure that everyone involved is on the same page.

[Our operations team] has only five hours total of setup time on game day, Borzello explains, so everyone on this team has taken on different roles to make sure that everything gets done before we step

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