Live From MLB All-Star 2025: ESPN's Home Run Derby: Statcast Edition' To Track the Homers With Live Drone AR Smart Tracing

Live From MLB All-Star 2025: ESPN's Home Run Derby: Statcast Edition' To Track the Homers With Live Drone AR Smart Tracing The altcast is a collaborative effort of the broadcaster and the league By Jason Dachman, Editorial Director, U.S.

Monday, July 14, 2025 - 5:11 pm

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ESPN has been producing a Statcast Edition for the Home Run Derby since 2018, and the alternative presentation has evolved dramatically. Originally, these altcasts largely resembled the main ESPN broadcast but with different announcers and a handful of graphics showing advanced metrics. However, tonight's Derby Statcast is a separate production, with a cavalcade of AR graphics to provide a deeper dive into the homers being hit at Truist Park.

It has been fulfilling to see it grow, says ESPN producer Andy Jacobson, who produces the Statcast Edition show, from mirroring the pictures of the main ESPN show into a legitimate second show with our own cameras, audio, tape room, and graphics creating a unique experience for the fans. It has become a massive show in and of itself, and it has been one of the highlights of my career to see it grow.

Inside the control room for Home Run Derby: Statcast Edition

New this year, ESPN is working closely with the league and Bolt6 to deploy live drone AR smart-tracing technology to provide a whole new perspective on home runs. Similar to the Emmy Award-winning technology used by the PGA TOUR, the system can track ball-in-motion data live from a moving drone - a first at the Derby.

We've shown ball trails in a 3D environment over the past few years, says Jacobson, but we will replace that 3D environment for a lot of this year's show with views from two live drones. We'll have a split screen, so you'll see one of two drones tracking home-run balls as they fly in the air on the right of the screen. Then we'll have two robos for the left side that show exit velocity, launch angle on contact, and an enhanced virtual strike zone showing the player's Nitro Zone,' where they want their pitcher to throw the ball.

The relationship we've forged with MLB and their Statcast team is invaluable, he continues. They have a truck full of operators here working with us and another 11 people [at MLB Network HQ in Secaucus], NJ, taking in speeds and creating Statcast 3D video elements to feed back to us. It's a true collaboration and team effort.

In addition to the two drones, the Statcast production team is equipped with five unilateral cameras: Sony HDC-5500's at high first and high third, robos down the first- and third-base lines, and a handheld in the announce booth.

ESPN producer Andy Jacobson (left) and VP, Production Technology and Innovation, Phil Orlins onsite in Atlanta

It presents a great opportunity for fans and a very different way to watch the Home Run Derby, says Jacobson. As a huge baseball fan myself, I've learned so much about baseball and about what's going through the mind of GMs and managers.

For the third year in a row, ESPN's Home Run Derby Statcast broadcast will be on a 30-second delay to account for the MLB Statcast data that needs to be rendered into live animations for the live broadcast, including real-time ball trails and distance tags.

All the cameras that ESPN is deploying, along with a clean cut and a line cut, will be fed through an EVS server, according to ESPN Operations Specialist Kevin Cleary. MLB's Statcast team is providing ESPN with the delayed tracer feeds, which will already include the data. Everything is being delayed into the switcher, so that, when the MLB Statcast feeds arrive, they're all in time.

Play by play caller Kevin Brown will be joined by analyst Jessica Mendoza and Statcast Insider Mike Petriello. The announcers won't be in the ballpark but will be in a room next to the broadcast compound, calling the Home Run Derby off monitors. They will have individual camera feeds to their monitors but will be viewing the action 30 seconds after it happens.

The present-day baseball game is so stat-centric, Jacobson observes. I know that isn't for everyone, which is exactly why this is such a great opportunity. Fans who don't want to take in the game with all these metrics have a beautiful watch on ESPN, but, on ESPN2, if you're a fan of those deeper stats on homers, we are a perfect place for you on a hot summer night in Atlanta.

Additional reporting by SVG Contributor Mark J. Burns

LINK:	https://www.sportsvideo.org/2025/07/14/live-from-mlb-all-star-2025-esp...
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