Stanley Cup Final Caps Impressive NHL Broadcast Effort in Edmonton Traditional compound layout supports broadcast teams from NBC Sports (U.S.), Rogers (Canada) By Brandon Costa, Director of Digital
Friday, September 25, 2020 - 1:35 pm
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
With a pair of Stanley Cup Final games on the agenda for this weekend (Game 4 on Friday, Game 5 on Saturday, both 8 p.m. ET on NBC), the National Hockey League is drawing toward the conclusion of its grand Hub Cities experiment and, thus, the successful broadcasting of its playoff season under exceptional circumstances.
Since the start of the Conference Finals this month, the NHL bubble has been reduced to a single venue: Rogers Place in Edmonton, AB, and the hybrid onsite/ at-home production model has continued to evolve.
The NHL hosts Stanley Cup Final Games 4 and 5 this weekend in Edmonton.
With more resources centralized in a single location, the league has deployed new tools and services in support of its broadcast partners (NBC in the U.S., Rogers in Canada): additional onsite production facilities, more camera angles, and added graphic enhancements (including roll-out of the league's highly anticipated puck- and player-tracking system).
It has been a long, collaborative process with our television partners and all of our end units, says Dan O'Neill, VP, arena and event operations, NHL. The collaborative nature of working with the volume of entities and giving them the platform to do their business has been great.
Condensed Compound, Limited Crews The hybrid production model in Edmonton has led to a minor increase in the size of the production compound since the league left Toronto to finish out the playoffs in the single venue. The side-by-side lineup of three trucks comprises NEP Broadcasting's ND5 (NBC Sports' top hockey truck) and Dome Productions' Silver (handling the major part of the game broadcast for Rogers and the world feed) and Unite (serving as a production B unit).
According to O'Neill, NBC Sports and Rogers are still producing the vast majority of their productions (graphics, audio mix, even on-air talent in some cases) from their respective home broadcast centers: Stamford, CT, and Toronto, respectively). However, NBC has nine or 10 crew members onsite working socially distant in ND5; Rogers has 12 or 13 crew members in its units.
More than 20 cameras are covering the action at Rogers Place in Edmonton, including five robotic cameras shooting in super-slo-mo, like this one positioned on the glass above the Tampa Bay Lighting bench.
O'Neill gives a nod to NHL Group VP, Broadcast Technology, Mark Haden, who played a critical role in coordinating the vast network of feeds and enhancements (data embedding, audio mapping, profanity-garbling systems with multiple feeds being delayed, puck/player tracking) for national and regional broadcasters dating back to the start of this effort back in June.
There is also a smattering of personnel onsite from other groups providing support, including SMT (which powers the puck- and player-tracking system and other virtual-graphics enhancements, such as dynamic statistical displays on the boards), WorldStage (the event-technology specialist assisting NHL Chief Content Officer Steve Mayer and his team in designing and building the in-arena structures that turned a hockey rink into essentially a television sound studio), and Cat Entertainment Services (providing power support not only for the compound but for the wide range of LEDs added to the arena's staging).
Versatile Camera Arsenal The NHL has upgraded its JITACAM by replacing its camera with a Sony HDC-P50, making it 4K-capable.
The NHL has been creative with camera deployment in Edmonton, having both expanded and enhanced its arsenal since the start of the Conference Finals.
The league has also relied on robotic cameras to add angles to the production without compromising personnel protocols. Currently, there are five robos on the rink, including one atop the glass of each end zone.
Providing Partners the Tools To Succeed How do we give [the networks] the opportunity to be creative on their own front, plus make it manageable, says O'Neill. The league, he adds, put in the work to give them their own unilateral cameras, individual comms paths, and raw clock/score data feeds for the networks to design and build their own graphics packages. It also allowed each network to fax each aspect of the operation on their end on game days.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
02/05/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
01/05/2026
January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...
01/04/2026
January 4 2026, 18:00 (PST) DOLBY AND DOUYIN EMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATON OF CREATORS WITH DOLBY VISION
Douyin Users Can Now Create And Share Videos With Stun...
26/03/2026
Extron and Audio-Technica have announced that their Design Solutions devices, Ce...
26/03/2026
SPORTEL Asia took place March 24-25 at the Orchard Hotel Singapore, drawing 370 participants representing more than 220 companies from 35 countries. Approximate...
26/03/2026
LTN will demonstrate satellite-to-IP migration solutions for broadcasters, cable networks, MVPDs, and station groups at NAB Show 2026 (Booth W2100).
The C-Ban...
26/03/2026
The Seattle Mariners have partnered with Daktronics to install an upgraded outfi...
26/03/2026
The Esports Foundation (EF) has awarded National Team Partner status to organizations and individuals across more than 100 countries and territories for the Esp...
26/03/2026
Telestream has announced expanded integration between its Vantage workflow platf...
26/03/2026
FOR-A Corporation has announced a partnership with Nippon TV and NVIDIA to distr...
26/03/2026
CBS Sports and the WNBA have expanded their partnership through a new long-term, multiplatform rights agreement. CBS Sports will feature up to 20 regular-season...
26/03/2026
Zac Brown Band will star in the Sunday Night Baseball show open on NBC and Peacock, NBC Sports announced. The open was filmed at American Family Field, home of ...
26/03/2026
Major League Baseball opens the 2026 season with nationally televised games across multiple media partners. Fans can visit MLB.com/Watch for a complete schedule...
26/03/2026
DIRECTV has announced an agreement to carry nine new MLB-operated team channels, covering the Cincinnati Reds, Detroit Tigers (Detroit SportsNet), Kansas City R...
26/03/2026
Nationals.TV, the Washington Nationals' local broadcast channel, is now avai...
26/03/2026
Starting Thursday, March 26, MLB.TV will be available on the ESPN App, giving fans access to more than 2,000 out-of-market regular season games. Fans can also r...
26/03/2026
Spotify's partnership with NAVER, Korea's leading digital platform, is built around one simple goal: making it easier for listeners in Korea to discover...
26/03/2026
Exclusive to ComposerCloud for first month
Sample library and virtual instrument gurus EastWest have announced the upcoming release of a new virtual drum i...
26/03/2026
Friday 27 March
Friday 27 March will mark Dynamic Range Day 2026, the annual day of online activity that was started in 2010 by mastering engineer Ian Sheph...
26/03/2026
Includes four separate instruments
Max Richter's SRM Sounds venture have just announced their fifth release, ASMR Choir. Captured at the main live room ...
26/03/2026
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an agency of the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture (DSAC), has been tasked with administering the Sixth Presi...
26/03/2026
By Matt Klein
Hello to everyone reading this - whether you're a current YEP, HPA member, or just YEP-curious. I'm Matt Klein, one of the co-chairs of t...
26/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
26/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
26/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
26/03/2026
28 participating companies, from start-ups to blue-chips, lead the UK Group as part of the GREAT Britain and Northern Ireland presence across all the Halls at N...
26/03/2026
Arkona Unveils BLADE//planner and Major Usability Enhancements at NAB 2026
Brie Clayton March 26, 2026
0 Comments
New graphical configuration tool and...
26/03/2026
Bitfocus showcases complete control at NAB Show 2026
Brie Clayton March 26, 2026
0 Comments
Continuing development drives advances in security, availa...
26/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
26/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
26/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
26/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
26/03/2026
Nevion introduces powerful new Panel Builder to enhance VideoIPath broadcast con...
26/03/2026
2026 Oscar Nominated Films Powered by Blackmagic Design
Brie Clayton March 25, 2026
0 Comments
DaVinci Resolve Studio used on 27 of this year's no...
26/03/2026
Leader to present full suite of advanced Test & Measurement solutions at NAB Sho...
26/03/2026
Boston Conservatory to Present New England and Collegiate Premiere of Groundbrea...
26/03/2026
Thursday 26 March 2026
HBO Max included for Sky and NOW customers from 26 March...
26/03/2026
Thursday 26 March 2026
Sky Sets Iconic Costumes Dancing Together Like Never Before' in Brand CampaignTurn on cookies to view this content. Go to Privacy o...
26/03/2026
Wuppertal March 26, 2026
CS live Builds Future-Ready OB Van With Riedel MediorNet and hi Control SystemRiedel Communications today announced that Czech-based ...
26/03/2026
Back to All News
Have a Wish Worth Dying For? Netflix's First Korean YA Hor...
26/03/2026
Back to All News
The Truthers, Starring Jose Coronado and St phanie Magnin, Pre...
26/03/2026
Enhancements to Harmonic's Sports Streaming Solution Introduce Server-Side Multiview, Contextual Metadata-Driven Advertising, Dynamic In-Stream Ads and Robu...
26/03/2026
Open the report
Our 2025 report brings together results from 79 business magazine titles across 22 market sectors, published by 49 media owners. Over the year,...
26/03/2026
Editor's note: This post is part of Into the Omniverse, a series focused on ...
26/03/2026
RT Commercial today announced Fiat as sponsor of The Louise Duffy Show on RT Radio 1, Weekdays 3pm 4pm.
The Louise Duffy Show is the home of daytime music...
26/03/2026
That gaming backlog won't clear itself - GeForce NOW is here to help. Stream the latest titles straight from the cloud across a variety of devices.
This we...
26/03/2026
Wayne, N.J., March 26, 2026 Phantom High-Speed announces the latest product li...
Stanley Cup Final Caps Impressive NHL Broadcast Effort in Edmonton Traditional compound layout supports broadcast teams from NBC Sports (U.S.), Rogers (Canada) By Brandon Costa, Director of Digital 
