Production Anywhere Remote Kit (PARK) & AR-fueled Stage B are two key pieces to this year's broadcast planThe NFL regular season's weekly grind is unrelenting, and traveling from city to city can create logistical and technological challenges. FOX Sports has worked tirelessly to implement a system that not only provides more operational efficiency for their various broadcast crews on Sundays, but also brings a greater sense of harmony to their production and operations backbone on their A, B, and C games.
There is no such thing as a small NFL show, so we're seeing a gradual homogenization of our technologies, says Mike Davies, EVP, technical and field operations, FOX Sports. We've been doing this for a long time, but it's nice to give these workflows to our other crews who didn't previously have them before.
Leveling the Playing Field: PARK-Based Philosophy, Streamlined Operations Bring Higher Production Quality to All Broadcasts
Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic back in 2020, FOX Sports has been tinkering with their production distribution architecture over the last six years. As the concepts of hybrid production models, centralized facilities, and broadcast compounds that leverage remote-based solutions have accelerated to become more commonplace, the broadcaster is deploying what they call PARKs or Production Anywhere Remote Kits. Spearheaded by FOX Sports' VP, Field Operations and Engineering, Kevin Callahan, the idea is to leverage the flexibility of remote production to strengthen their core production personnel that are still onsite at the venue. This includes incorporating locations like their Transmission Operations Center in Tempe, AZ for G3DVu's line-to-gain, their IP-powered Vault in Los Angeles, and a handful of EVS replay operators from a NEP Group-operated facility. While our producer, director, talent, and a large chunk of our crew is still on site, we have people remoting in from all over the country to contribute to these shows, says Davies. [PARK] has been really successful, and we continue to find new things to make more efficient every single year.
Every NFL game will tap into this style of production to raise the broadcaster's overall production to a higher tier. As these offsite workflows handle its portion of the broadcast, onsite operations outside of the stadium have become better suited for the long haul. In an attempt to promote sustainability and develop a strategy that could be replicated on all NFL broadcasts, FOX Sports worked closely with CBS Sports' EVP, Operations and Engineering, Patty Power, and SVP, Remote Technical Operations, Jason Cohen to create a power infrastructure that could be deployed within both network's broadcast compounds over the course of the season.
It was a real feat of cooperation between both networks to rely on house power and generator power through UPS [Uninterruptible Power Supply], adds Davies.
Aggreko and Sunbelt Rentals sits at the center of this plan during the 2026 schedule. This infrastructure will power the mobile units at each level, including Game Creek Video's Ovation on A games, Game Creek Video's Bravo on B games, and NEP Group's Supershooter 6 and Supershooter 9, the A and B units of Game Creek Video's Spirit, and Mobile TV Group's 46FLEX on C games.
Crews set up workflows for Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Cincinnati Bengals at Paycor Stadium.Upgraded Tech: Pylons, Skycams, Drones Are Three Prime Examples
From a broadcast technology perspective, the influx of first-class equipment across the board can be seen in the finer details. Pylon cameras have been a crucial part of broadcasts for quite a while, but the best of the best were typically reserved for A games. Now, upgrade Pylon cameras are visible in replay capacities on every game, including Proton cameras at 4x speed in basic pylons supplied by Gravity Media. In addition, through FOX Sports' partnership with Cosm, immersive pylons will be implemented as well.
Above the field, both Skycams and drones have received the upscale treatment. Every weekend, the broadcaster will have three shows - A, B, and a rotation on C - that will include a Skycam. As for drones, FOX Sports' trusted production partner in Beverly Hills Aerials will once again take to the sky after numerous years of success.
We use them a little less aggressively in the NFL than we do in UFL or MLB, but in some cases, they match, if not exceed, the capabilities of typical aerials, says Davies. With Beverly Hills Aerials, they also do a really great job with obtaining permissions from the FAA, local landowners, and leagues.
Game Creek Video's Spirit is parked in Las Vegas for Miami Dolphins vs. Las Vegas Raiders at Allegiant Stadium.Outside of technology, FOX Sports' efforts with content in HDR is taking a significant leap forward. After dabbling with this workflow since their earliest experience in 2018, the team tried again during three consecutive Super Bowls in 2020, 2023, and 2025. This endeavor has now reached more than 500 productions, but since their Pico facility in Los Angeles was flipped from 1080p SDR to HDR prior to the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the practice has continued to be led by Callahan with assistance from Cromorama's Founder and Managing Director Pablo Garcia Soriano,
The thing we learned early on is that HDR isn't a checkbox, it's a discipline, says Callahan. The hard part is that HDR has to look the way the director intended and the SDR downconvert, which is still most of our audience, has to look better than it did before we started. Over the offseason, we built a new FOX LUT with Pablo that tonemaps HDR to SDR differently than past seasons, particularly in how speculars and super-brights come back down to SDR. Him and his team are QC'ing our HDR feeds liv
