NBA Western Conference Finals: ESPN's InsightCast' Features Avatar Shot Charts, Virtual 3D Replays, Immersive Analysis AR-enhanced game camera and detailed dunk metrics are also in the mix By Jason Dachman, Editorial Director, U.S. Tuesday, May 20, 2025 - 2:46 pm
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The next chapter in ESPN's altcast odyssey tips off tonight, when the broadcaster produces its first InsightCast for Game 1 of the NBA Western Conference Finals. Deploying technology from Beyond Sports, SMT, ShotBot/VividArcs, and others, the altcast will feature data-driven visual elements, such as an AR-enhanced play-by-play game camera, avatar-populated shot charts, virtual 3D replays, immersive replay analysis, and a detailed statistical look at dunks.
ESPN will deploy ShotBot technology from VividArcs to create virtual shot charts featuring personalized avatars for each player.
I think [this is] an unrestrained opportunity to talk about the game at a high level, says Phil Orlins, VP, production, ESPN. As [technology] continues to get better and better every day, we are entering a world where you can see things from any position, anytime, any angle, at any speed, and I think that advancement is necessary.
Western Conference Finals: The InsightCast Presented by YouTube TV presentations will air exclusively on ESPN platforms for Games 1-4 of the series, staring tonight with Game 1 on ESPN2. The production will look to build on ESPN's extensive efforts in the altcast realm, including a long line of MLB Statcast Edition broadcasts, as well as a litany of animated broadcasts like NBA Dunk the Halls, Simpsons Funday Football, Toy Story Funday Football, and a pair of NHL Big City Greens Classics.
This has been a work in progress for a while, notes Tim Corrigan, SVP, sports production, ESPN. The idea of Insight and getting deeper into the game as an alternative telecast was appealing to us. We're excited about what we can do to provide greater insight, not just into the game but into the production of the game, and what tools may become common in the future.
Orlins adds, Whether we're [visualizing advanced data] with Statcast MLB to create virtual animated replays or doing the fully animated cartoon-based games, I always saw the potential of that data as something that would influence the way we cover sports in the future.
InsightCast Production Workflow: Crew, Talent in Bristol The InsightCasts will be produced out of ESPN's Bristol, CT, studios and feature the commentary trio of Ryan Ruocco, Tim Legler, and Kirk Goldsberry. Producer Laurie Privitera and director Billy Proctor, both longtime veterans of ESPN's NBA coverage, will be at the front bench for the production, which will operate on a 1- to 2-second delay behind the main ESPN/ABC broadcast.
I love doing these things, says Orlins, because we don't really find out what we can do that's going to impact the future of the way we cover things unless we have a chance to try them in real-life circumstances and show them to a real, actual audience. I think it just helps us move the ball forward in a great way to be able to do this type of stuff.
AR-Enhanced Game Camera: SMT Powers New AR-Centric Play-by-Play Look The broadcast will feature an AR-enhanced game camera, powered by SMT's data and tracking capabilities, that will offer a much more aggressive approach to providing information on the screen during the actual live cut, Corrigan says. On-screen AR graphics from SMT will include player-ID tags, shot-distance markers, and a variety of other data-driven player stats. In addition to the AR-enhanced main game camera, the broadcast will go outside the norm in terms of camera angles for game coverage.
[We're] in this free-form opportunity to analyze the game, he says, so you may see us do a few different things: watch a little action from the opposite side above the rim [or] watch a little action on the SkyCam - things that allow us to see defensive lanes and stuff like that and be unrestrained in our ability to talk about the game from that perspective.
Next-Gen Shot Charts: Lifelike Avatars Offer Closer Look at Shooting Trends ESPN has enlisted VividArcs ShotBot technology to create virtual shot charts featuring personalized avatars for each player on both the Thunder and the Timberwolves. Using the NBA's Hawk-Eye player-tracking data, ShotBot technology creates am avatar for each shot based on the player's movement and positioning.
Not only do you get shot [locations], distances, and stats, says Orlins, but you actually see the representation of the player movement through the Hawk-Eye tracking data. You get a feel for what they're doing to accomplish that score. I think it is a meaningful step forward from the sort of two-dimensional dots and X's that you would see on the court [in previous shot charts].
The dynamic shot charts will be created regularly throughout the game and are expected to be used fairly liberally in the broadcast, he adds.
Virtual 3D Replays: Beyond Sports' Tech Delivers Any Angle Imaginable Beyond Sports - the Sony-owned company that has provided the data-visualization platform for the recent wave of animated altcasts by ESPN, NHL, and others - will be creating virtual replays from almost any angle imaginable. The replays will be available within 15-20 seconds after the play, allowing them to be used as first replays within the telecast should the front bench opt to use them.
From one play, says Orlins, a variety of different first-person, third-person, on-the-court angles, SkyCam type of angles can be created. [You can be] watching it from Donovan Mitchell's third-person, over-the-shoulder point of view, [and then] you'll see first-person point of views that are more bouncy [when]
