Toronto Blue Jays Inject Energy Into Rogers Centre With New 1080p HDR-Capable Control Room, Videoboard This is the club's newest scoreboard since 2005, newest control room since 2011 By Kristian Hern ndez, Senior Editor
Wednesday, September 21, 2022 - 7:00 am
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
In the home stretch of the 2022 MLB regular season, the Toronto Blue Jays are one of three Wild Card teams in the American League. With half of their remaining 12 games to be played at Rogers Centre, the club expects an extra boost of adrenaline not only from the home crowd but also from an in-venue show driven by a brand-new 1080p HDR-capable control room and centerfield videoboard.
The Toronto Blue Jays have upgraded their control room at Rogers Centre for the first time since 2011.
I'm really happy with how everything turned out, says Mike Christiansen, director, technical production and broadcast services, Toronto Blue Jays. I'm proud of the way that our crew adapted to going from half of an HD frame to this gigantic display.
Shifted Timeline: COVID Delays Project Two Years The project implementing the franchise's newest scoreboard in 17 years and the newest control room in more than a decade has been three years in the making. After the contract was awarded to Alpha Video in 2019, the process was brought to a screeching halt in 2020 by the COVID-19 pandemic. And the plan ended up being transformed: originally calling for an IP-centric control room, it transitioned to a 1080p, HDR-capable baseband facility.
During the pandemic upheaval, the organization was in and out of Rogers Centre: in the shortened 2020 season, playing 21 games at TD Ballpark, its Spring Training home, in Dunedin, FL, and, in 2020 and 2021, 49 total games at Sahlen Field, home of the Triple A Buffalo Bison. In the offseason prior to the 2022 season, the Blue Jays and the crew at Alpha Video completed the project to wow fans with a new look in Toronto.
EVS is driving the replays to the new LED displays.
Our design team worked with [Anthony James Partners Director, Broadcast,] Mike Martin to put together a baseband equivalent to what we had planned on doing in IP, says Jeff Volk, VP, Alpha Video. After two years of starts, stops, and multiple redesigns and other things, the goal was to be ready for Opening Day.
The lockout at the beginning of the regular season brought no new challenges to the project, but Christiansen, Volk, and the rest of the crew working on the control-room integration still needed to overcome the lingering effects of the pandemic. Health and safety restrictions imposed by the Canadian government made it a bit difficult for an American company to go back and forth across the U.S.-Canada border.
To avoid increased supply-chain issues or other delays, Alpha Video partnered with Unity SI - a trusted company located 35 miles north of Rogers Centre in Newmarket, Ontario - which served as its conduit in Canada. The partnership was fruitful, with the Canadian company helping Alpha fulfill multiple tasks: the heavy lift of revamping the control room, installing the Ross Video XPression-based LED used for the video displays, refurbishing the infrastructure of the new mobile unit docking bay, and upgrading broadcast cabling in numerous positions.
The in-venue crew is tapping Ross Video's XPression graphics system.
We leaned heavily on [Unity] to be our boots on the ground, notes Volk. I can't stress enough what a great job [President/CEO] Doug Waldron and the team at Unity did as our partner.
For Christiansen, it was extremely important to work with a systems integrator that was reliable and committed to the project: We knew that [COVID-19] might be a challenge, but we went with Alpha based on their work in other control rooms. I think it was important that I had a personal connection with them as well.
Behind the Scenes: A Peek Into the New Broadcast-Control Room Heading into this endeavor, Christiansen and his crew of Senior Manager, Technical Production, Christina Gunn and Broadcast Engineer Steph Gagnon were specific on the vendors and products they wanted for this new space. Whether from experience or the need for surefire solutions and services that elevate the game presentation, Volk was more than willing to help bring this equipment to the control room or lower bowl.
Mike and his team had very strong ideas about who they wanted their partners to be, he adds. They wanted Sony as their camera manufacturer. They wanted to continue being EVS users, so they have one of the more advanced EVS replay environments that we've installed on the baseband side.
Ross Video's Acuity production switcher is at the center of in-venue shows.
The 1080p, HDR-capable control room is anchored by Ross Video's Acuity production switcher and XPressions graphics system. Replay is handled by two XT-Via replay servers at 8 channels each and a 6-channel XS-Via playback server, along with IPDirector and XTAccess. Daktronics DakStats provides real-time statistics for all LED displays. Riedel control-room communications equipment includes DSP-2312 SmartPanel and Artist 128 digital intercom network. Evertz EQX16 router is at the core of the rack room. Other notable gear in the space: Adder Technology Adderlink Infinity Dual for KVM; AJA HI5-4K-PLUS for HD/SD-SDI HDR-to-HDMI video and audio conversion; and FS-HDR for HDR material.
The show is run with 11 cameras: five Sony HDC-3500's, five Sony BRC-H800 robos (one for home bullpen, one for away bullpen, one high home, one on the roof, and one in the ress conference room) controlled by Sony's RM-IP500 PTZ camera remote controller, and a Sony PMW300 with DTC Solo7 Broadcast Nano COFDM Tx and Pro-RX receiver. All cameras are outfitted with various Fujinon lenses.
Fueling the Playoff Push: Enhanced
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
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...
07/05/2026
Journalists reporting on Sudan are working in one of the most complex and fast-m...
07/05/2026
Multi-year partnership positions Victory+ as a free home for Dallas Cowboys orig...
07/05/2026
From sideline reporting to directing and producing, the talented sophomore is building a well-rounded foundation for a career in live sports production
In the ...
07/05/2026
Cobalt Digital has received two Future Best of Show awards at NAB Show 2026. The COBALT blueCORE platform was recognized by TV Tech, and the COBALT PACIFIC ULL-...
07/05/2026
ESPN analyst Mina Kimes will host the televised semifinals and finals of the 202...
07/05/2026
Bitmovin has announced that MUBI, the global film streaming platform, has selected Bitmovin as its cloud VOD encoding partner. Bitmovin's encoding infrastru...
07/05/2026
NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises and the U.S. Soccer Federation have announced...
07/05/2026
Angel City Football Club (ACFC) and Victory have announced a regional broadcast partnership bringing live match coverage to fans across the greater Los Angeles...
07/05/2026
Spiideo has announced the launch of AI Highlights inside Spiideo Play, its automated sports production platform. AI Highlights combines video, event data, audio...
07/05/2026
Leostream Corporation has announced a unified remote access ecosystem for high-p...
07/05/2026
The Atlanta Dream has partnered with Victory to stream all locally broadcast Dream games for free, expanding the team's digital distribution strategy and g...
07/05/2026
Riedel Communications has announced the appointment of Marc Engroff as Chief Fin...
07/05/2026
SES and ARD, Germany's largest public broadcasting network, have announced a long-term extension of their satellite distribution partnership through 2039. U...
07/05/2026
UpLight Technologies delivers a flexible video and lighting system for a new televised sportLaunching the Pro Cheer League required more than creating a compell...
07/05/2026
Full Day Productions and GSE Worldwide have announced Spikes Under the Lights, a...
07/05/2026
Seit dem Start im Jahr 2023 hat DJ (Beta) das personalisierte H rerlebnis von 94...
07/05/2026
Da quando stata presentata nel 2023, DJ (beta) ha aiutato a definire un'esperienza d'ascolto pi personalizzata per 94 milioni di utenti Spotify Premi...
07/05/2026
Since launching in 2023, DJ (beta) has helped shape a more personalized listenin...
07/05/2026
Desde o lan amento em 2023, o DJ (beta) j ajudou a deixar a experi ncia de ouvi...
07/05/2026
From our earliest days, Spotify has been built on a simple principle: Great audio should be easy to reach. It's what's driven us to expand from music to...
07/05/2026
Asian and Pacific Islander artists continue to shape the global soundscape, pushing creative boundaries and connecting with fans worldwide. This Asian & Pacific...
07/05/2026
Company announce long-requested choir instrument
In the latest expansion of their Symphonic Elements series, UJAM have introduced an all-new vocal instrumen...
07/05/2026
Modular-inspired sound generation with digital control
Buchla have introduced Ziggy, a new compact synthesizer built around the company's complex oscill...
07/05/2026
Combines analogue voices with digital synthesis and sequencing
Polyend have announced Drums, a new hybrid analogue and digital drum machine that combines sy...
07/05/2026
Control surface now officially supports four DAWs
When Nektar launched the Panorama CS12 control surface, it worked exclusively with Apple's Logic Pro, ...
07/05/2026
In the first quarter 2026, SGL Carbon generated consolidated sales of 184.5 million, which was 49.8 million, or 21.3%, lower than in the prior year (Q1 2025: ...
07/05/2026
Rohde & Schwarz and Greenerwave achieve precise and fast ESA antenna characteriz...
07/05/2026
Two multi-role L3Harris products - the Red Wolf launched effects vehicle and SK...
07/05/2026
L3Harris will be developing key features of a secure and resilient digital infra...
07/05/2026
Alysa Liu and Shohei Ohtani Help Drive Viewership as 91 of the Top 100 Broadcast...
07/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/05/2026
Cobalt Digital Wins Two Future Best of Show Awards at 2026 NAB Show
Manufacturer Recognized by TV Tech and TVBEurope for Innovation in signal processing
Cobal...
07/05/2026
Software and hardware platforms, AI power and user-friendliness on show...
07/05/2026
Intinor will demonstrate its latest technical enhancements for the Direkt series at BroadcastAsia 2026. With a continued focus on reliable contribution and remo...
07/05/2026
Bitmovin has announced that MUBI has chosen Bitmovin as its cloud VOD encoding partner, replacing MUBI's legacy on premises encoding setup to improve scalab...
07/05/2026
Meet Graduates from Berklees Class of 2026 Members of this years graduating class reflect on their proudest moments at Berklee and look ahead to whats next.
...
07/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/05/2026
At BroadcastAsia 2026, Interra Systems will demonstrate its latest innovations in automated quality control (QC), real-time monitoring, and captioning. The comp...
07/05/2026
At this year's Broadcast Asia, PlayBox Neo is set to unveil recent innovations across its PlayBox Neo Suite and integrated range of broadcast media solution...
07/05/2026
Strategic three-year partnership marks delivery phase of BFBS' next-generation media vision
Media organisation and military charity BFBS (British Forces Br...
07/05/2026
Amagi, the agentic industry cloud platform for unified broadcast, streaming, and monetization, today announced the availability of its In-Content Ads offering v...
07/05/2026
Lightware Visual Engineering has developed Rack Taurus for rack-based environments such as education and corporate training spaces. It enables clean and simple ...
07/05/2026
Jigsaw24, the UK's leading media equipment supplier and systems integrator, will showcase its expanded end-to-end workflow capabilities at MPTS 2026, signal...
07/05/2026
Ease Live, an Evertz company, today announced that it has been granted a US Patent for its proprietary graphical overlay technology, the foundation for interact...
07/05/2026
Test & measurement innovator Leader Electronics of Europe will present an extensive range of Leader, PHABRIX and LeaderPhabrix test and measurement solutions at...
Toronto Blue Jays Inject Energy Into Rogers Centre With New 1080p HDR-Capable Control Room, Videoboard This is the club's newest scoreboard since 2005, newest control room since 2011 By Kristian Hern ndez, Senior Editor 
