Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

ESPN, TNT Sports Tag-Team on Emirates NBA Cup Production in Las Vegas

13/12/2024

ESPN, TNT Sports Tag-Team on Emirates NBA Cup Production in Las Vegas The broadcasters will share resources, compound space at T-Mobile Arena By Kristian Hern ndez, Senior Editor

Friday, December 13, 2024 - 1:05 pm

Print This Story | Subscribe

Story Highlights

The long and winding trek to the Emirates NBA Cup will conclude over the next few days at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, and Saturday's doubleheader will decide which two teams will battle it out for the second-annual trophy. In a March Madness-esque effort, ESPN and TNT Sports will each produce a semifinal matchup from the arena, relying on help from each other and the league's broadcast-operations department.

[These games] feel different because we're in a neutral venue and working much closer with the NBA, says Eddie Okuno, senior remote operations specialist, ESPN. We're able to do things that we wouldn't be able to do in an ordinary NBA arena.

A Different Production Beast: Ops Teams Ramp Up Tech To Match Heightened Intensity After a successful inaugural competition in 2023, the NBA Cup tourney's start a month ago demonstrated the teams' buy-in, with new jerseys, newly designed courts, and an enhanced commitment to play with heart and grit. Fans have turned up to the venues to watch in person, and viewers have tuned in to broadcasts on national and regional networks. As the tournament hits its final stage, the tension on the court will continue to ratchet up. And the championship-level game will be matched by championship-level technologies and workflows.

T-Mobile Arena will host the Emirates NBA Cup Semifinals on Saturday and Championship Game on Tuesday.

It feels like we're in the playoffs despite being in the middle of the season, says Chris Brown, VP, technology and operations, Warner Bros. Discovery. This year, it has been a little bit easier after last year's tournament and with the great working relationship that we have with the league.

TNT Sports, which will broadcast the first semifinal, will deploy an impressive tech arsenal, including 10 hard cameras, six handhelds, four super-slow-motion cameras, its standard above-the-rim robotic camera at each basket, an RF Steadicam, and live coaches mics heard in real time. Another TNT Sports' standard is remote graphics production from its Techwood facility in Atlanta, an effort that began on NBA Opening Night back in October.

A full-length RailCam will run alongside the players on the court.

Airing on ESPN, the second semifinal and Tuesday night's final will be the first NBA on ESPN productions to boast five shallow-depth-of-field cameras: a Sony FR7 PTZ robo on each bench, a new Canon C80 on an RS-4 Pro gimbal, and an RF handheld with capabilities to add virtual graphics. Other tech toys include an ARRI ALEXA35 4K Live Production System camera with a Fujifilm DUVO 25-1000mm box lens, SMT Optics strategy tracker and shot-distance tracker with NBA Hawk-Eye data, and TGI Sport on-court virtual advertising.

Each broadcaster will have a dedicated configuration in the compound. TNT Sports will roll with its West Coast workhorse, NEP Supershooter 8 A and B units, as the main game truck and NEP TS2 for an onsite edition of Inside the NBA emanating from the outdoor plaza of T-Mobile Arena. ESPN will be working from NEP EN3 A and B for game coverage and Live Media Group MU-14 for onsite versions of NBA Countdown and NBA Today. The game truck will share multiple camera feeds for studio coverage, and the studio team's virtual jib camera will be integrated into the live game telecast.

Cross-Network Doubleheader: Networks Tap Shared Resources for Semifinal Round On Saturday, TNT Sports and ESPN will come together to produce two semifinal games in a single night. Although the schedule at T-Mobile Arena is a lot more favorable this year - the tech infrastructure for last year's portion in Las Vegas was constructed later than usual because of a Vegas Golden Knights game - key to the tournament's success is to reflect on last year's effort and adapt strategies for this weekend.

Along with the RailCam, a Skycam will be shared by ESPN and TNT Sports.

We tried sticking to the blueprint and made the necessary adjustments for replicating it, says Brown. The NBA made some tweaks, but we looked to leverage the lessons learned from last year.

A neutral-site production for a trophy game is reminiscent of the NBA Bubble during the COVID-shortened season in 2020. As two of the NBA's domestic rightsholders, TNT Sports and ESPN had long had a strong partnership, but that effort at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando strengthened their relationship. Four years later, that time together is reflected in Las Vegas.

The camaraderie and friendship that we have with TNT Sports is unmatched, says Okuno. When it comes to operations, we're always there to help each other out. When the NBA Cup came into our schedules last year, we took the approach of doing it together.

This willingness to work together in the same venue has translated into sharing selected resources and equipment. TNT Sports' RF Steadicam, for example, will be used on ESPN's nightcap on Saturday. ESPN, for its part, is offering Skycam, court-length RailCam, a Sony HDC-5500 low-slash camera, and robotic PTZ cameras. The ESPN-provided cameras will be operating in 1080p/59.94 fps SDR for both semifinal games. Audio will be shared via MADI and Dante paths, along with comms between the broadcasters' onsite trucks.

Camera positions, including this one near center court, will be shared by the two broadcasters.

To free up space in the shared broadcast compound, the broadcasters will deploy a few remote workflows. Besides TNT Sports' remote graphics from Techwood, ESPN graphics, clock and score, and four EVS replay operators for game
LINK: https://www.sportsvideo.org/2024/12/13/espn-tnt-sports-tag-team-on-emi...
See more stories from svg

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

04/08/2026

Dalet Announces Commercial Availability of Dalia, Bringing Media-Aware Agentic AI to Enterprise Productions

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

04/07/2026

Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in Dolby Cinemas Across Japan, Presented in Dolby Atmos and Dolby ...

April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...

01/06/2026

Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026

January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026 Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...

07/05/2026

New Nielsen Report Shows The Profound Impact of Asian Influence on Sports and Pop Culture

Alysa Liu and Shohei Ohtani Help Drive Viewership as 91 of the Top 100 Broadcast...

07/05/2026

IAB Tech Lab Introduces Standardized Signals For CTV Ad Portfolio

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

07/05/2026

Cobalt Digital Wins Two Future Best of Show Awards at 202...

Cobalt Digital Wins Two Future Best of Show Awards at 2026 NAB Show Manufacturer Recognized by TV Tech and TVBEurope for Innovation in signal processing Cobal...

07/05/2026

FOR-A delivers creativity practicality and technical exce...

Software and hardware platforms, AI power and user-friendliness on show...

07/05/2026

Intinor brings advanced IP transport diagnostics and HDR...

Intinor will demonstrate its latest technical enhancements for the Direkt series at BroadcastAsia 2026. With a continued focus on reliable contribution and remo...

07/05/2026

Bitmovin Powers Global Film Streaming Platform MUBI

Bitmovin has announced that MUBI has chosen Bitmovin as its cloud VOD encoding partner, replacing MUBI's legacy on premises encoding setup to improve scalab...

07/05/2026

Meet Graduates from Berklees Class of 2026

Meet Graduates from Berklees Class of 2026 Members of this years graduating class reflect on their proudest moments at Berklee and look ahead to whats next. ...

07/05/2026

Convergence is Now Established Reality,' Says NAB 2026 Report

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

07/05/2026

Interra Systems to Showcase Best in Class QC Monitoring a...

At BroadcastAsia 2026, Interra Systems will demonstrate its latest innovations in automated quality control (QC), real-time monitoring, and captioning. The comp...

07/05/2026

PlayBox Neo shines a spotlight on delivering Secure Scala...

At this year's Broadcast Asia, PlayBox Neo is set to unveil recent innovations across its PlayBox Neo Suite and integrated range of broadcast media solution...

07/05/2026

BFBS selects Synamedia to deliver New Digital Platform fo...

Strategic three-year partnership marks delivery phase of BFBS' next-generation media vision Media organisation and military charity BFBS (British Forces Br...

07/05/2026

Amagi Unlocks New Opportunities for CTV Performance with...

Amagi, the agentic industry cloud platform for unified broadcast, streaming, and monetization, today announced the availability of its In-Content Ads offering v...

07/05/2026

Lightware Introduces Rack Taurus For Clean Centralized AV...

Lightware Visual Engineering has developed Rack Taurus for rack-based environments such as education and corporate training spaces. It enables clean and simple ...

07/05/2026

Jigsaw24 Showcases End-to-End Media Workflows at MPTS 202...

Jigsaw24, the UK's leading media equipment supplier and systems integrator, will showcase its expanded end-to-end workflow capabilities at MPTS 2026, signal...

07/05/2026

Ease Live Granted US Patent for Technology Powering Perfe...

Ease Live, an Evertz company, today announced that it has been granted a US Patent for its proprietary graphical overlay technology, the foundation for interact...

07/05/2026

Leader prepares advanced Test and Measurement showcase fo...

Test & measurement innovator Leader Electronics of Europe will present an extensive range of Leader, PHABRIX and LeaderPhabrix test and measurement solutions at...

07/05/2026

LiveU Signals a New Era of Live Broadcasting at Broadcast...

At Broadcast Asia 2026 (Stand 5H3 8), LiveU is redefining live production with its most powerful IP-video EcoSystem to date built to help broadcasters and con...

07/05/2026

Colorfront Streaming Server Awarded Trusted Partner Network Gold Logo Certification

January 8, 2024 Colorfront (colorfront.com), a leader in high-performance, on-s...

07/05/2026

Colorfront Unleashes New Opportunities for Content Owners Plus Other Ground-Breaking Visual Experiences at Nab 2024

March 20, 2024 NAB 2024, Las Vegas - Colorfront (colorfront.com), the multi-awa...

07/05/2026

Colorfront Delivers Innovations for HDR Cinema at Cinemacon 2025

April 1, 2025 CINEMACON, APRIL 1, 2025 - Colorfront (colorfront.com), the multi-award-winning developer of high-performance dailies/transcoding/streaming syste...

07/05/2026

Colorfront to Showcase Advanced HDR Cinema Mastering Solutions at CineEurope 2025

June 15, 2025 Colorfront (colorfront.com), an Academy and Emmy Award-winning de...

07/05/2026

Colorfront at ICTA Barcelona Cinema Technology Summit

June 15, 2025 Colorfront participated in the ICTA Barcelona Cinema Technology Summit on Sunday, June 15, 2025. Held at The Phenomena Experience, the event feat...

07/05/2026

Colorfront Does IBC 2024 Live From Stockholm!

July 1, 2025 Colorfront (colorfront.com), the multi-award-winning developer of high-performance dailies/transcoding/streaming systems for motion pictures, OTT,...

07/05/2026

Colorfront Transkoder Delivers a Masterful Performance at Annapurna Studios

July 1, 2025 Passion and dedication will take you places. Come with us on a short trip to the heart of India, where Annapurna Studios is living-up to the inspi...

07/05/2026

Colorfront Opens a New Chapter in Color Tools For Cinema & Television

July 3, 2025 Colorfront (colorfront.com), the multi-award-winning developer of high-performance dailies/transcoding/streaming systems for motion pictures, OTT,...

07/05/2026

Colorfront at IBC 2025: Advanced Tools Make Easy Work of Critical Mastering Tasks and More!

September 1, 2025 IBC 2025, Amsterdam - Colorfront (colorfront.com) - the Acade...

07/05/2026

Colorfront Introduces Colorfront Immersive Utility, a New Mac App for Creating Apple Immersive Video

April 17, 2026 LOS ANGELES - April 17, 2026 - Colorfront today announced Colorf...

07/05/2026

Colorfront Delivers Even More AI Automation Power and Extends Technology Partnerships with Dolby Apple

April 23, 2026 NAB 2026, Las Vegas - the Academy and Emmy Award-winning develop...

07/05/2026

CNN Founder Ted Turner Dies at 87

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

07/05/2026

FCC Urges Appeals Court to Toss Challenges to Nexstar-Tegna Deal

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

07/05/2026

Carr Announces FCC Staff Promotions

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

07/05/2026

Recreating the 1974 Doctor Who Time Tunnel in After Effects

Recreating the 1974 Doctor Who Time Tunnel in After Effects Graham Quince May 6, 2026 0 Comments The Time Tunnel from Doctor Who titles is one of th...

07/05/2026

Well known Irish faces pushed to the edge in new series of Uncharted with Ray Goggins

Well known Irish faces pushed to the edge in new series of Uncharted with Ray G...

07/05/2026

Powerful four generation story A Traveller Family airs on RT One and RT Player this Monday night

RT will premiere A Traveller Family, a compelling new documentary exploring the...

07/05/2026

Linked and Loaded: Gaijin Single Sign-On Now Available on GeForce NOW

Less typing, more tanking. Faster logins mean more time in the gaming action - and this week provides GeForce NOW members with a smoother path straight into th...

06/05/2026

Wisycom RF Solutions Support Gravity Medias Live Cycling and Marathon Broadcasts

Gravity Media Chief RF Communications Engineer Glenn Willems uses Wisycom RF over Fiber and wireless solutions across major cycling events and international mar...

06/05/2026

Sennheiser Spectera Module Now Available in Bitfocus Companion and Buttons

A Sennheiser Spectera module is now available in Bitfocus Companion and Buttons, enabling direct integration of Spectera with the two software platforms. The mo...

06/05/2026

Ted Turner, Cable Television Pioneer, Sports Broadcasting Hall of Famer, Dead at 87

Ted Turner, the visionary media entrepreneur whose appetite for disruption helpe...

06/05/2026

FIFA World Cup 2026: Peacock Launches Visin de Campo (aka Pitchside Live), Will Stream All 104 Matches in Spanish

Peacock is going all-in on the beautiful game - streaming all 104 FIFA World Cup...

06/05/2026

NoiseWorks Audio launch VoiceAssist Basic, Standard & Advanced

New pricing tiers for vocal/dialogue restoration tool NoiseWorks Audio's AI-powered vocal and dialogue processing plug-in is now available in three diff...

06/05/2026

RME TotalMix FX 2 now available

Popular mixing & routing software overhauled Following a recent public beta test, RME have launched the final release version of the powerful mixing and rou...

06/05/2026

Focusrite: Designing The ISA C8X Audio Interface

New SOS Video Feature Focusrites ISA C8X is a milestone product that brings together the companys analogue heritage and their expertise in digital audio. Yo...

06/05/2026

L3Harris to Boost Polish Navy Combat Power with Advanced Ship System

Polands Miecznik-class frigates are part of the largest contract in Polish shipbuilding history. (Image Credit: PGZ Stocznia Wojenna)...

06/05/2026

FCC's Anna Gomez Urges Rigorous Review of Paramount-WBD Merger

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

06/05/2026

Riedel Ups Marc Engroff to CFO, Shifts Frank Eischet to Group COO

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...