College Sports-Production Community Gathers in Atlanta for 2026 SVG College Summit

In two-day event, leaders from academia and industry explored solutions to challenges, shared case studies, celebrated the best

The 2026 SVG College Summit brought the college sports-video-production community together this week for its annual pilgrimage to Atlanta. With two days of programming, a packed exhibit floor, and sessions tuned to programs of every size, this year's edition once again reinforced its role as the gathering place for everyone working to elevate college sports production.

The 2026 SVG College Summit drew 500 attendees to the Hilton Atlanta for two days of networking and learning.This year's Summit, which was made possible by Title Sponsor Ross Video, was led by 2026 Summit Chairpersons Leah Gill, associate AD, digital media services, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and Parker Leppien, assistant AD, live operations and programming, War Eagle Productions, Auburn University. Additionally, the event once again featured hands-on tech tours and the industry's premier celebration of college sports content: the College Sports Media Awards ceremony.

Wednesday Tip-Off: HBCUGo Sports Workshop, WDB Techwood Tours

The Summit opened early Wednesday with the return of the HBCUGo Sports Workshop, a full-day program designed to help athletic directors, sports information directors, and students at HBCUs grow their sports properties and elevate on-campus production quality. HBCU GO TV Co-Founder/President Curtis Symonds delivered a state-of-the-industry address, and broadcast executive Andrea Berry provided a morning keynote, moderated by YoSy Media Co-Founder Sybil Wilkes. Sessions spanned the full range of HBCU production and business challenges, from Making a Great Broadcast to afternoon panels on storytelling, producing content beyond athletics, brand building, and navigating NIL.

Across town, other attendees joined the SVG College Tech Tours for an inside look at Warner Bros. Studios' Techwood Studios.

Wednesday General Sessions: Technology, Storytelling, Honoring the Industry's Best

The exhibits opened, and the general sessions kicked off the afternoon with One Team, Many Screens, which examined a challenge familiar to athletic departments of every size: the silos separating live broadcast, in-venue production, digital content, and marketing. Leaders from University of Georgia, Auburn University, University of Wyoming, and Ross Video discussed strategies for aligning teams around shared resources and turning more connected workflows into new revenue. The technical conversation continued as representatives of NC State University and Imagine Communications detailed Pack Productions' phased migration from SDI to IP and its newly deployed SMPTE ST 2110 infrastructure.

ESPN Senior Writer Ryan McGee (right) shared insights on the art of storytelling as the keynote speaker at this year's event. He was interviewed by the American Conference's Maria Trivelpiece.Wednesday's keynote conversation featured ESPN Senior Writer and Marty & McGee co-host Ryan McGee, interviewed by Maria Trivelpiece, director, video communications/reporter, American Athletic Conference. Drawing on decades across television, books, and documentary production, McGee reflected on the collaborative relationships between talent, producers, and field crews that bring great sports stories to life.

McGee stayed on stage to emcee the evening's centerpiece: the 18th-annual SVG College Sports Media Awards, presented in association with NACDA, celebrated the best and brightest in video production and content creation from institutions of all sizes over the past athletic year. More than 30 trophies were given out honoring athletic departments, conference offices, professional networks, production companies, and the student ranks across six categories: Live Game Production, Live Non-Game Production, In-Venue Video, Cinematic Recap, Social Media Video, and Special Feature.

Thursday General Sessions: Shared Control Rooms, Replay & Review, AI on Game Day

The second day opened with a forward-looking panel on the evolving campus production facility. In The New Campus Production Hub, University of South Carolina, University of Texas at Austin, and University of Missouri alongside technology partners Grass Valley and Diversified examined how shared, multi-purpose control rooms can balance staffing, scheduling, automation, and hybrid on-premises and cloud workflows - and how those environments can support third-party productions and new revenue.

The morning continued with Riedel Communications and Alpha walking through a live-deployment case study on rethinking replay and official review with a budget-friendly, integrated platform.

The general sessions wrapped with AI on Game Day (and Every Day), a practical primer featuring speakers from Harvard University, Georgia Southern, Willamette University, ScorePlay, and Veritone discussing how AI and automation are already streamlining live streaming and videoboard workflows for lean teams.

Thursday Breakouts: Power Conferences, Mid-Majors & Small Programs, Getting Creative, Getting Into the Business

After a networking break, the program split into targeted breakout tracks, each tuned to a different corner of the college production world.

Power Programs: Live Track focused on the demands facing resource-intensive Power Conference schools across the SEC, Big Ten, ACC, and Big 12. It opened with an inside look at the University of Pittsburgh's modernized five-control-room facility and its move from baseband to a scalable SMPTE ST 2110 IP environment.

The track also featured the cross-track Bang for Your Buck panel with representatives of Ohio State, Mississippi State, and Appear and Lawo Senior Director, Systems Architecture, Lukas Schaufler; a Georgia Tech case study on delivering consistent broadcast audio across 1

LINK:	https://www.sportsvideo.org/2026/05/29/college-sports-production-commu...
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