
SVG Sit-Down: RWS Global's Kim Henshaw, Scott Horton Reflect on the In-Venue Experience of the 2024 Olympics and Paralympics in Paris More than 700 staffers drive in-stadium productions of 54 sports in 37 venues By Kristian Hern ndez, Senior Editor
Wednesday, November 13, 2024 - 12:29 pm
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
Since the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, RWS Global - a production and entertainment company at the center of international sporting events, live performances, and more - has been responsible for the in-venue activations and overall fan experience in the host nation. With the eyes of the world set on the 2024 Olympics and Paralympics in Paris, their onsite team of 450 French staffers as well as support from afar helped create a magical environment for spectators of all 54 sports within 37 venues across the City of Light and France this past summer.
This included generating over 7,000 hours of in-venue content created, curating and programming more than 2,000 music tracks, arranging more than 40 new and original compositions to compile the Symphony of Sport' project, hosting 878 victory ceremonies that distributed over 4,700 medals, delivering 12,415 headshots graphics of athletes, and leveraging the power of their PV4 integrated software system with 70 operators, sports producers, content programmers and global support staff.
SVG sat down with RWS Global's EVP, Sports Business Operations, Kim Henshaw, and RWS Global Sports' EVP Scott Horton to discuss the process of planning and executing the in-venue portion of Paris 2024, how the in-stadium entertainment of this competition compares to the other global sports tournaments that they're involved in, and how technology has evolved since their first Olympic Games.
More than 700 staffers drive in-stadium productions of 54 sports in 37 venues.
What were your responsibilities in Paris and how does the multi-sport nature of these Games make your job different?
Horton: We were responsible for a huge footprint and a massive team that we needed to build across the Olympics and Paralympics. We work very closely with the organizing committee to ensure that the number of venues had consistency with our delivery and would allow fans to know that they were at the Olympics no matter what stadium or arena they were in. This included our branding, messaging, music, flavor, and experience was of high quality and synced together but most importantly, we wanted the spectators to have fun. We needed our presentation to be neutral, but also have fans understand what's going on if it was their first time watching a particular sport.
Henshaw: There's a big differentiator between productions for a franchise and producing for an Olympic Games. When you go to a specific team's stadium, their fans understand the rules of the game, know how gameday works, and are ready to be entertained. For a major multi-sports competition like the Olympics, these games are in a one-off location with new and different variables. Fans want to be a part of this global celebration but may not know the intricacies of a sport like fencing. Our job is to find that balance between entertainment and fan engagement while also educating these new fans in a way that's easy to digest.
Can you take us back to the pre-planning phase and what it's like working with the International Olympic Committee (IOC)?
Horton: We had a very short lead in, which made it difficult, but we luckily have the team and experience to get going right when we signed the contract. We embedded our producers and project managers at the LOC (Local Organizing Committee) and worked with their presentation department. We have what we call cluster managers, split them up amongst their dedicated sports, talk through the protocol of each event, and build our show around those parameters. In line with the Creative Strategy of the LOC, we intertwined these creative elements into each of the individual sports. . With a bunch of Functional areas within the organizing committee, we had to integrate [our staff] into venue management, broadcast, logistics, marketing, brand management, and other departments as well. For example, the area for 3 3 Basketball at La Concorde needed to transition into Breaking. We needed to prepare our technology and plan with both sports in advance to schedule rehearsal time and do the appropriate tech checks. It's a very big program with a lot of things to juggle.
How did the team adapt to last minute changes in Paris?
Henshaw: One of the things that RWS Global Sports is an expert at is mobilizing teams into foreign environments and creating an entire show on the run. We have our own content creating teams that are producing all of the graphics that go on the numerous LED displays in each stadium. With venues having their own challenges and specific deliverables, being flexible and adaptable is a specialty of ours. From the IOC and broadcast teams to every international federation wanting their athletes to be presented in the best way possible, there are so many stakeholders at an Olympic Games. You also have to add in difficult working situations that may come up like ordinary day-to-day challenges and getting production teams to and from different venues when transport isn't running properly. Those were operational challenges, but we were also tasked with executing a synchronized light show for the 100-meter final. This was decided less than a week away from the race, so we had to program the show on the fly, get thousands of light-up wristbands delivered to the stadium, and distribute them to the spectators as they entered into the stadium.
How were productions at venues with multiple events, like various games of Rugby Sevens or simultaneous Track & Field events at Stade de France, stitched together to create
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
09/10/2026
September 10 2026, 06:00 (PDT) Dolby Expands Dolby OptiView Platform with New Capabilities at IBC 2026
New Sports Intelligence helps providers better unders...
07/10/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...
22/09/2026
From Malaysia to Mexico and from DR Congo to Ukraine, this year's 12 finalists for the 2026 Thomson Foundation Young Journalist of the Year award tell extra...
22/09/2026
The annual preseason content-gathering event brought 36 NHL players to Las Vegas, where ESPN used 2.5 kilowatts of laser power and a motion-control camera syste...
22/09/2026
Neumann has introduced the KK 104 A (cardioid) and KK 105 A (supercardioid) wireless capsule heads, succeeding the KK 204 and KK 205. The new capsules are compa...
22/09/2026
The NFL and TMRW Sports have announced a new annual Pro Flag Showcase to be held during Super Bowl LXI week in Los Angeles. The event will feature top flag foot...
22/09/2026
Washington State University has unveiled a new end zone video display and audio ...
22/09/2026
Disney's SVP of Live Operations and Engineering details the technology behin...
22/09/2026
Cosm has announced two senior promotions. Mazen Alawar has been promoted to SVP,...
22/09/2026
Mississippi State University's University Television Center has purchased four KOKUSAI DENKI SK-UHD7000-S2 cameras since 2024, with plans to add two more, a...
22/09/2026
Net Insight has announced that Christine Kjellvard will assume the role of interim Chief Financial Officer on November 1, 2026. Kjellvard has previously held in...
22/09/2026
Net Insight has announced Zyntai TimeNode Access, a compact PTP Grandmaster designed for distributed edge sites. The product carries secure, precise time across...
22/09/2026
Sam Hazeldine, Austin Amelio, Padraic McKinley, Julia Jones, and Ethan Hawke attend the premiere of The Weight at The Ray Theatre on January 26, 2026, in Park...
22/09/2026
Second high-gain tone plug-in released
Following on from their debut release, Chainsaw Suite, Avalanche Tones have announced the launch of their second plug...
22/09/2026
Uncompressed audio with below 6ms of latency
Lewitt's have just introduced their first pair of headphones which, despite being aimed primarily at studio...
22/09/2026
Two new capsule heads for Sennheiser wireless systems
Neumann have announced the upcoming launch of the KK 104 A and KK 105 A, a pair of new premium condens...
22/09/2026
Apogee Plugins Are Moving to Plugin Alliance We're excited to share an important update about the future of Apogee plugins.
Apogee plugins are moving to Pl...
22/09/2026
Parkland, Florida, US, September 22, 2026: SipRadius, widely recognized for making content processing and connectivity secure and seamless, has been honored wit...
22/09/2026
VanityFilter 3.1.5 adds project files and adjustable protection around lips, bro...
22/09/2026
Chile's TV Modernizes Broadcast Operations with Blackmagic Design
Brie Clayton September 22, 2026
0 Comments
URSA Broadcast G2 brings versatility...
22/09/2026
OWC Shares Sneak Peek at Amazon Prime Big Deal Days Pricing
Brie Clayton September 22, 2026
0 Comments
Image courtesy of Deposit Photos
Business and ...
22/09/2026
Berklee's First Homecoming Block Party Brings Alumni Home for Global Music F...
22/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/09/2026
From Academy Award-winning Passion Pictures and BAFTA-winning director Marian Mo...
22/09/2026
Tuesday 22 September 2026
Portrait Artist of the Year returns to Sky Arts with ...
22/09/2026
Whether it be from the sun or from our phones and other devices, we are all exposed to electromagnetic radiation in some shape or form. With the dramatic growth...
22/09/2026
Comscore's latest AI Intelligence Report Shows Competition Intensifying as C...
22/09/2026
The Factory-X Project Sets Standards for Data Sovereignty in Industry
Arvato Systems Brings Digital Sovereignty to Industrial Practice
Factory-X Successfully...
22/09/2026
LONDON Apple today announced the opening of Apple Music Hall, a brand-new state-...
22/09/2026
RT , Creative Ireland and Shared Island Initiative ask young artists
to respon...
22/09/2026
To build and deploy sophisticated robotics applications that can perceive, reason and act in dynamic environments, developers need new physical AI models and to...
21/09/2026
Manifold Technologies, developer of software-defined, FPGA-accelerated infrastructure for live production, has named Ryhaan Williams as Chief Commercial Officer...
21/09/2026
Studio Network Solutions (SNS) has won Best Journal Article at the 2026 IAMT Impact Awards for What Video Editors Need When Everything Is Changing Around Them,...
21/09/2026
Major League Wrestling (MLW) has announced a streaming distribution agreement with Tubi for its weekly series MLW FUSION. Beginning September 17, new episodes w...
21/09/2026
Disney Entertainment has announced that Adam Smith has been named Chairman, Direct-to-Consumer, with responsibility for Disney and Hulu including product, engi...
21/09/2026
United Airlines and DISH have announced an agreement to bring live professional ...
21/09/2026
SES and JioStar have announced a multi-year agreement under which SES will provide satellite distribution services for JioStar's television channel portfoli...
21/09/2026
The Detroit Red Wings have announced details for their inaugural season on Detro...
21/09/2026
Manifold Technologies has appointed Ryhaan Williams as Chief Commercial Officer for North America, effective October 1, 2026. Based in Jacksonville, Florida, Wi...
21/09/2026
Angels Broadcast Television (ABTV), the local television home of the Los Angeles...