NFL A1s Trot Out Their Bags of Tricks To Enhance the Aural NFL Experience

NFL A1s Trot Out Their Bags of Tricks To Enhance the Aural NFL ExperienceContact mics, digital infrastructure, integrated Dolby Atmos are in the mixBy Dan Daley, Audio Editor

Thursday, September 25, 2025 - 7:00 am

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Plenty of new wrinkles for football this NFL season. New overtime rules, changes to kickoffs, expanded replay assist for certain penalties, and, of course, 15 yards for emulating CeeDee Lamb's nose wipe celebration.

There are also a few new notes for the audio for the games on the major networks. Here's how they're bringing more ear candy to air.

To Capture the BoinkFor CBS Sports, A1/sound supervisor Dave Grundtvig is deploying the custom contact microphones he designed for the NBA. Initially placed beneath the floorboards of the court to pick up vibrations from ball bounces and sneaker lands, the mics date to the NBA's COVID-era bubble in Orlando. Since then, Grundtvig has deployed them in various locations for a variety of sports.

A1 Dave Grundtvig has adapted the contact microphones he designed for the NBA for NFL games on CBS Sports.

For the NFL this season, he's using the same piezo-electric design but with a slightly different form factor. The mics are attached, either singly or in pairs, just below the goalpost uprights. The number used depends on the amount of audio connectivity each stadium offers; if no dedicated input is available, he uses the audio inputs of one of the low-end-zone cameras, each of which has two audio inputs.

The contact mics are perfectly attuned to capture the singular boink of a football hitting the uprights but can also capture some of the louder ambient sounds of the game. And they offer Grundtvig some management help: he can essentially leave those channels open on the 64-input Calrec Apollo console aboard NEP Supershooter 5, the truck that handles CBS's Sunday games.

Unlike when you put microphones on the goalposts, he says, the beauty of the contact mic is that I can have it open all the time. It's one less audio source to manage during a busy game.

Wireless microphones on four players and two officials during the game, along with two parabolic microphones on the sidelines, offer intelligible speech during plays, and the goalpost contact mics pick up the posts' resonation when the metal uprights are energized by the stadiums' loud PA systems. They also capture some of the loudest crowd reactions in the end zones.

I don't have to wait, anticipate the kick, and then open it, Grundtvig says. It's always ready. And it adds to the overall ambience of the sound.

Speaking of crowd sounds, he also uses two pairs of Shure VP-88 stereo condenser microphones, each pair in mid-side (MS) configurations. These are pole-mounted, at each end of the stadium.

Using those in an MS arrangement, he explains, gives me the most flexibility for creating much more space and width to the audience than a conventional shotgun and or large diaphragm mic. That's why I like using MS: I can control the width of the image.

Digital Distribution via DanteFOX Sports NFL A1 Jamie McCombs has an all-new digital infrastructure this season, centered on FOX's new Game Creek Ovation truck, which is fitted with a new Calrec Argo audio console.

FOX Sports' Jamie McCombs will be working with an all-new digital infrastructure this NFL season.

We now have a lot more capability for [digital] distribution throughout the stadium, to get more passback via Dante, he explains. The goal is to let go of all the analog connections throughout these stadiums. I think, on the back of the truck, we have only a single analog DT to the stadium. Everything is either via Dante or some sort of Dante-enabled device that we can hook an analog into and put the field box right at the microphone. We're not transporting anything on analog anymore. It's fantastic.

As for microphones, FOX Sports has increased use of Audio-Technica AT4050 stereo condensers and added Voyage Audio Spatial ambisonics mics in pursuit of a wider, more realistic crowd sound. He says the Spatial mic adds significant dimensionality.

It's nice to have the option to move the stadium, like panning around to emphasize more surround, he says. I was in Kansas City for the Eagles-Kansas City game, and it's a stadium with a lot of fan interaction with the Chiefs' chop.' It's really, really cool to hear all that throughout the stadium and surround. It's almost like you can hear the stadium itself.

Digital Trucks With Native ST 2110ESPN's MNF A1 Scott Pray has plenty of new trucks and new tricks to work with. The new four-unit Game Creek Flagship is scrimmaging for the broadcaster's weekly flagship football game, having been broken in during this year's NBA Playoffs, Conference Finals, and Finals. The trucks will also take ESPN to the Super Bowl in February 2027.

A1 Scott Pray will be at a Calrec Argo console aboard Game Creek Flagship A for ESPN's NFL coverage.

One big change aboard the trucks is the switch from Calrec Apollo consoles to the company's newer Argo desk, which is native ST 2110, as are the trucks themselves. There are two of the consoles on the A unit, which houses a pair of identical audio-control rooms, allowing Pray and submixer Jonathan Freed to work side by side during broadcasts.

The consoles have the same capabilities, so either one could be main mix or submix, Pray notes. Depending on the show, you could do an international mix, or you could do two completely different shows. Being side-by-side is helpful, being able to stand up and go over and talk to each other very easily. That's going to be especially important as we work with all the new technology - ST 2110, AES67 - on them. It's quite a learning curve.

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