NFL Playoffs 2025: ESPN Scrambles To Get Production in Place After Wild Card Game Moves to Arizona An operations team familiar with State Farm Stadium helped smooth the effort By Mark J Burns, SVG Contributor
Monday, January 13, 2025 - 12:49 pm
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
On Thursday evening, the NFL decided to move tonight's Wild Card game between the Minnesota Vikings and Los Angeles Rams from SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, CA, to State Farm Stadium, home of the Arizona Cardinals. The relocation, driven by the devastating Los Angeles wildfires and concern for public and fan safety, forced ESPN to execute a last-minute audible with its broadcast and production team.
It was a scramble, says ESPN Senior Operations Manager Tommy Mitchell, but it allowed us to utilize all the standard Monday Night Football facilities and plan. He adds that it does simplify the technical plan once production personnel arrived in Glendale, AZ.
The change of location, he says, was actually a huge benefit and eased some of those logistical challenges, allowing all production resources to be diverted to Arizona days ahead of the broadcast.
State Farm Stadium has been given a new look for tonight's Wild Card game.
Mitchell, who joined the Monday Night Football operations team ahead of the 2024 season after almost two decades in college football, and his team had not expected to know the game's venue until as late as this past weekend. Knowing all that is happening [in Los Angeles] really puts things in perspective for all of us, especially the human side of things. We were planning on what additional safety measures could be implemented should the game remain at SoFi.
ESPN delayed start-time plans in Los Angeles because of the possibility that the game would be relocated. Its production trucks were held outside of California and directed to Arizona once the game's relocation became official. Contingency plans included incorporating different mobile units into the production. Still, Mitchell says, a full complement of mobile units and broadcast gear will be deployed for tonight's broadcast.
Between the main broadcast, NFL Live, Monday Night Countdown, and the ManningCast, ESPN plans to integrate not only its onsite systems and the full production truck but also REMI and REMCO resources into the overall production. We are utilizing pretty much every single way that ESPN does shows, Mitchell notes. It's all encapsulated into what we will do for the Wild Card game.
NEP Broadcasting is supplying four expando mobile units for the telecast. A production trailer will also be an onsite. About 60 cameras will be incorporated into the broadcast, including a drone, RF Steadicam, Skycam, and 23 super-slo-mo units.
One differentiated component within the broadcast will be one of the down-the-line cameras, which are normally robotic. One will be upgraded to a full super-slo-mo camera chain with an operator, according to Mitchell. Multiple pylon cameras and robotic cameras will also be deployed. About 200 production personnel will be onsite at State Farm Stadium.
As for the effect of the last-minute relocation on staffing, he notes, the vast majority of the Monday Night Football technicians are core traveling members of the crew and worked to rebook their travel itinerary.
Even so, some crew members also worked the College Football Playoff semifinal games, and their travel has been hampered by inclement weather in the Southeast. We will work around those logistics as best we can, says Mitchell, adding that the late change of plans presented a local challenge in securing some utilities and runners. However, moving to a market like Phoenix is welcomed as they have a well-rounded sports-television community.
Mitchell has previously dealt with game-location changes, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, when he worked on ESPN's college-football coverage. Moving an event/crew of this size is not as simple as a quick phone call or email, he points out. It takes a ton of people, all focused on the same things, who have been clearly communicated to about what the plan is going to be.
After his first full season working behind the scenes on Monday Night Football, Mitchell compares the experience with his days in college football. On a Saturday in the fall, with 20 to 30 games across ESPN platforms, A lot could go right, but a lot could also go wrong. Coming from that side, I'm well-versed in my phone ringing a lot on game day, with possible broadcast issues with power, cameras, or production trucks. That was kind of what I was expecting on game days for Monday Night Football. There are too many moving pieces. It's a big show. There are going to be some things that go wrong. We have to constantly put out fires.
That hasn't proved to be the reality, though. Reflecting on the 2024 season, he says, It was about as smooth as I could have expected it to be operationally.
He credits the engineering and operations teams: They're the best at what they do. They're on this show for a reason. Generally, what that means is, they've already thought of all the things that could go wrong, and they already have backup plans in place. If something does go wrong, they fix it before I even hear about it. That is a very comfortable place to be for someone in my role.
Wild Card Broadcast Notes Play-by-play caller Joe Buck and analyst Troy Aikman will lead the main Rams-Vikings broadcast on ABC and ESPN. The pair, who have called 60-plus NFL postseason games and six Super Bowls together, will be joined by sideline reporters Lisa Salters, reporting on the Vikings, and Laura Rutledge, covering the Rams.
Meanwhile, Peyton and Eli Manning will return for their 11th ManningCast of the 2024 season and their fourth Wild Card broadcast. Newly name
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...
30/09/2026
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({...
30/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/09/2026
The An Evening with Emerson, Lake and Palmer tour brings one of rock's most iconic bands back to the stage. These performances seamlessly blend live foota...
30/09/2026
Schibsted Media, one of Norways largest and most influential digital media publishers and content producers, has invested in mixers and digital signal processor...
30/09/2026
Big Blue Marble announces the addition of live multiview channels to Cloud Video Kit, its broadcast-grade video processing platform. The feature is powered by A...
30/09/2026
Leading video software provider Synamedia today announced that Telekom Slovenije, Slovenia's largest provider of telecommunications and TV services, is open...
30/09/2026
PODCAST EXPO 2026 Recorded Using Blackmagic Design Workflow
Brie Clayton September 29, 2026
0 Comments
Conference featuring 24 sessions over two days ...
30/09/2026
IBC2026 Show Report
David Kirk September 29, 2026
0 Comments
The International Broadcasting Convention has long been Europe's equivalent of the US...
30/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/09/2026
Mavis has launched Mavis Camera 8.2, the latest release of its professional camera app for the iPhone and iPad. This update brings support for iPhone 18 Pro and...
30/09/2026
New Solution Expands Harmonic's Network Intelligence Portfolio and Brings Comcast-Developed Fiber Monitoring Technology to Broadband Operators, Providing Re...
30/09/2026
Thank you to Film-TV Video for the original article - you can view it here
It was early 1983. I had just turned 21 when I joined Hitachi Denshi's European...
30/09/2026
How to Shop Well Now starts Monday at 9.35pm
on RT One and RT Player
On the...
30/09/2026
Building on nearly a decade of co-engineering, CoreWeave has built NVIDIA compute, networking and software into a cloud purpose-built for AI that's still re...
29/09/2026
Oak View Group (OVG) has announced Cisco as an Official Technology Partner, with plans to standardize infrastructure across its venue network on Cisco solutions...
29/09/2026
SportsNet Pittsburgh (SNP) won three honors at the 2026 Mid-Atlantic Emmy Awards.
Program awards went to Bucs BP in the Sports Program Live category (produced ...
29/09/2026
The Professional Women's Hockey League has announced home openers for all 12 teams for the 2026-27 season, along with a broadcast partnership with CBC under...
29/09/2026
Manifold technologies has been recognized as a contributor to the Media eXchange...
29/09/2026
FuboTV has announced My Local Sports, allowing subscribers in select markets to add their local regional sports network (RSN) as an add-on to a Fubo Sports subs...
29/09/2026
Asian News International (ANI), a wire agency and video news provider based in India, has deployed Grass Valley's AMPP Media Operating System and Framelight...
29/09/2026
South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) has deployed Ikegami UHK-X600 cameras as part of an upgrade to IP-based production infrastructure. The deployment ...
29/09/2026
REMI, REMCO models will drive the bulk of the broadcaster's NHL productions ...
29/09/2026
Three years in, the facility is supporting more centralized race production, com...
29/09/2026
NBC, Peacock, and NBSN are carrying all four Wild Card series with a production ...
29/09/2026
19 Nonfiction Projects Across All Stages of Production to Receive More Than $1 million in Support as Documentary Film Program Approaches 25th Anniversary
LOS ...
29/09/2026
Two new plug-ins launch alongside updated bundles
Zynaptiq have just announced the launch of two new plug-ins, alongside new and improved versions of two of...
29/09/2026
All-in-one bus processor revealed
Wes Audio's ng product range has come a long way since it was first introduced, and now includes a tasty selection of ...
29/09/2026
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({ content_source:......
29/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/09/2026
Ikegami announces that the South African Broadcasting Corporation, SABC, has chosen Ikegami UHK-X600 camera systems as part of an advance to IP-based operation ...
29/09/2026
Blendkit Offers 20% Discount to Celebrate Crossing 150K Asset Milestone
Brie Clayton September 29, 2026
0 Comments
Blendkit, the largest 3D asset libr...
29/09/2026
Interactive streaming specialist Ease Live supported more than 76.5 million fan sessions across three major European media operators during this summers FIFA Wo...
29/09/2026
Ease Live has added support for VAST (Video Ad Serving Template) to its graphical overlay technology, opening up new ways for broadcasters, streamers and rights...
29/09/2026
Rise AV has announced the launch of the inaugural Rise AV Awards, a new global awards programme celebrating the women, advocates and organisations across the AV...
29/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
NFL Playoffs 2025: ESPN Scrambles To Get Production in Place After Wild Card Game Moves to Arizona An operations team familiar with State Farm Stadium helped smooth the effort By Mark J Burns, SVG Contributor 
