Live From FIFA Women's World Cup: Inside Fox Sports' Studio Operations The iconic Sydney Harbour backdrop is just the beginning By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director
Wednesday, August 9, 2023 - 9:45 am
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When it comes to World Cups, Fox Sports has a knack for landing impressive studio-location sites. For the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup, Sydney Harbour and the Sydney Opera House join the list of impressive landmarks that have served as the broadcaster's studio backdrop.
I knew we wanted to have the Opera House as the iconic symbol that everyone watching would know, says Rod Conti, VP, remote studio operations, Fox Sports. We look at all the spaces that could see the Opera House: Luna Park, the Botanical Gardens, etc. But we were staying at the Pier One hotel during the first survey and walked through this patch of land [Hickson Road Reserve] with this amazing view, and we said, This is the spot.'
From left: Greg Pfeifer, Rod Conti, and Patty Fischer at Fox Sports' main set for the Women's World Cup
That spot is adjacent to Campbells Cove in an area of Sydney known as The Rocks. Located near the Park Hyatt hotel, the site has a much smaller footprint than previous World Cup studio locations in Vancouver, Paris, Moscow, and Qatar. As a result, a new approach to design and operations was required.
We decided we can still have a large presence by going with a campus feel rather than a mega structure, Conti says. The good news is, as iconic as the Opera House is, the surrounding area is just as beautiful.
The campus houses a 4,000-sq.-ft main set with walls on the original patch of grass, back-of-house operations (3,000 sq. ft), studio desk show, and a studio for the digital team. Complementing that, a 1,500-sq.-ft outdoor pitch set, located about a three-minute walk along the harbor, has a Fox-branded football pitch connected to it. Each location is connected to a 4,000-sq.-ft technical-operations center situated beneath Harbour Bridge.
We've called them the main set and pitch set, says Conti, but we don't really have a main set because we have been outside [on the pitch set] more than inside. It starts with the weather: if the weather is nice, we like to spend most of our time outside. The set with the walls gives a safe harbor so we could operate no matter what the weather. And, while we have two separate sets, we incorporate them both during the broadcasts.
Both locations also have great views of Sydney Harbour as well as of the Opera House.
Unlike the Eiffel Tower, the Opera House in the background fills the frame perfectly because it's wide and short. I call it a happy blessing, says Conti. Our trademark is still to not shoot behind glass whenever we can so that everyone feels closer to the environment. And Sydney Harbour is amazing because it delivers three times a day. In the morning, it looks fantastic; at dusk, it is the prettiest. And, at night, we get amazing shots. But, all day long, there is something to look at: it could be the ferries, a cruise ship, or a racing sailboat. It's really exciting.
As in Vancouver, Paris, Russia, and Qatar, the physical set embodies artistic touches that reflect the host nation's culture and history, especially with respect to the First Nations population.
Our international sets are different from our college ones, where we think of crowds and signs in the background, Conti explains. Internationally, our main focus is encapsulating the beautiful landscape of the host nation.
Since the 2015 World Cup in Vancouver, Conti and his team have become expert in dealing with government bureaucracies of all shapes and sizes. The studio location in Sydney required the Fox Sports team to work closely with five government agencies. In addition, because it is a Heritage site, a lot of its areas and buildings are protected.
All the land masses are owned and operated by different groups from the city of Sydney, he notes. We even touch the maritime folks a little bit because our 3,000 ft. of cable from one studio to the other has a 15-ft. piece of cable across a pier they control.
The studio location was only part of the challenge. The Fox Sports team also needed to find a site for a technical-operations center, production-control room, equipment room, and more. In a bit of kismet, the team early on began working with Destination New South Wales, the lead government agency that markets Sydney and NSW and works on tourism- and business-growth initiatives. One of its key projects is Vivid Sydney, an annual lights festival that is the largest in the Southern Hemisphere and poses a massive technical undertaking across Darling Harbour, Sydney Harbour, and beyond. It requires dedicated back-of-house areas, and, coincidentally, a key building for managing the event is located under Harbour Bridge. It was also a perfect site for the Fox Sports studio technical facilities.
They were fantastic, Conti adds, and were on our side when we said we wanted to have Sydney represent Australia.
Building With Local Vendors With approvals in place, the Fox Sports team began the work of nailing down local companies that would be able to help with the design and construction of the studio campus.
Our local vendor is Stage Kings, says Conti. They built all of our stage and some of our back-of-house builds as well. After visiting them, we said to ourselves, this is the type of team that we're used to. They were young and hungry, and we saw a Louis Vuitton activation where we could see the quality of their work.
Step one was to give the Stage Kings team an understanding of what Fox looks for in a remote studio environment. They flew to Qatar to see the level at which we do things, so they knew what they were walking into, explains Conti.
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Live From FIFA Women's World Cup: Inside Fox Sports' Studio Operations The iconic Sydney Harbour backdrop is just the beginning By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director 
