
Live From Super Bowl LVIII: Iconic CBS Sports Belaggio Studio Is at Center of a Busy Week Live drone is set to make Super Bowl history during NFL Today studio-show kickoff By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director
Sunday, February 11, 2024 - 11:26 am
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
The Bellagio Fountains on the Las Vegas Strip are the iconic center of the city, so it's no surprise that CBS Sports settled on a small strip of sidewalk (and one lane of the actual Strip) in front of them as the home of its week-long studio-show operations. Today, the operations shift into game-day mode, hosting the first 90 minutes of the NFL Today pregame show.
CBS Sports' Mike Francis at the broadcaster's Super Bowl LVIII Studio at the Belaggio
For the first 90 minutes of the pregame show, the NFL Today talent team will be located at the Bellagio. At around 12:30 p.m., they will make the relatively short trip (around 15 minutes) to Allegiant Stadium, where they will settle in at an external set and, ultimately, at an interior set in the corner of the field.
There's a transition they have to navigate to get from here to the stadium, says Mike Francis, VP, engineering and technology, CBS Sports. We're going to capture that live in some way, and that will be fun.
CBS Sports will also make history today: it will be the first Super Bowl broadcaster to provide aerial shots from within the 10-mile no-fly zone around the stadium. Capturing the shots will be a heavy-lift drone from Beverly Hills Aerials outfitted with a Sony P50 camera and an FPV drone.
Of the Bellagio site, Francis says, We certainly looked at other locations, but we quickly knew we wanted to plant our flag at the Bellagio. We feel like it's everything Vegas, and it's a great backdrop for all our productions.
The CBS Sports Super Bowl LVIII studio complex is located alongside the Las Vegas Strip.
The studio complex houses two main stages, one on either side of a demo football field. The backdrop for viewers includes the Bellagio Fountains (the CBS team has control of them in the morning hours), and, because the set is alongside Las Vegas Boulevard, anyone driving by has a chance to see CBS Sports in action, and pedestrians walking by can even take selfies at two activation areas.
The Bellagio was great at connecting us with partners that know what they're doing so we can make it all work, says Francis. We were fortunate enough to get the first lane of Las Vegas Boulevard because there's not a lot of space to pop up tents and trailers for gear.
Studio-set design was led by CBS Sports VP, Graphics and Design, JP LoMonaco; Senior Art Director Komal Bhukhanwala; and Director Bob Matina; and Jack Morton Group Senior Design Director Andre Durette. The intention was to lean into and capture the extravagant, larger-than-life aesthetic of the Las Vegas Strip and announce CBS Sports' presence in the heart of it all.
It was a great collaboration, says Francis. Our goals from a design standpoint were to be multi-use so that all the Paramount partners could be here. It was important to be able to build something that could be shared as well as having your own space where you need it. The demo field in the center has been highly utilized across all the properties.
CBS Sports Super Bowl pregame coverage will kick off at Studio 2.
The set features multiple jibs, two pedestal cameras, a RF Steadicam, and RF handhelds.
They basically have everything they could ever want, notes Francis. We have roofs over the main stages. The desert gets really cold, too, especially when we start programming super-early in the morning, so built-in floor heating comes up under the desks to keep the talent from freezing for the early stuff.
An affiliates platform, he adds, enables owned-and-operated stations to come in and set up. The platform comes complete with power and lighting; the stations have their own transmission solutions (mostly bonded cellular) to deliver live hits back home.
Heavy use by Paramount shows and CBS stations has made the Super Bowl effort feel like a family affair and, best of all, a busy one. We have constant programming out here, Francis points out. CBS Morning News is here, The Talk has come out for multiple days, and we've been doing tons of CBS Sports Network programming daily on Stage 2, which has been running from 6:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. almost every day. And CBS Sports HQ, which has a pretty big stage here, has been going nonstop all week [and producing its shows remotely from Fort Lauderdale].
The only production and technical facilities onsite at the Bellagio are F&F GTX20 (two units), an interconnect trailer where Lumen has its base of operations overseeing the dark-fiber paths, and plenty of Aggreko power. There is also the team operating the Flycam, which has a 1,000-ft.-long run across the fountain lake, and the drone.
The Flycam is inspected during a long day running back and forth across a 1,000-ft.-long run across the Bellagio Fountains.
We also have several 1-Gbps circuits for all of our needs as well as for anyone else who is working at this site, adds Francis.
The heavy programming schedule on CBS Sports Network has kept the production team in GTX20 very busy all day. They're not only servicing the onsite productions, says Francis, but are also the interface for all the remote productions at the BMW Building in New York.
GTX20 is linked to the NEP TFC (Total Facility Control) at Allegiant Stadium, allowing any feeds to be shared. The intercoms at the stadium and the Bellagio are trunked, creating one big intercom system.
F&F GTX20 is onsite at the CBS Sports Super Bowl LVIII studio at the Belaggio.
The small footprint of the technical facilities is testament to the power of remote workflows. Without the ability for productio
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
17/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
17/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
17/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
17/06/2026
Montr al, Quebec, June 11, 2026 Kiloview, a leading provider of AV-over-IP and NDI -based video transmission solutions, today announced a distribution partner...
17/06/2026
Changsha, China, June 15, 2026 Kiloview officially announced the launch of U4 IP Video Dock, a compact IP video decoder and output dock designed to bring prof...
17/06/2026
Calibr-Skaggs awarded $5.1M by NIH to develop long-acting hepatitis B virus therapy A new program aims to replace a daily HBV drug with once-monthly or even qua...
16/06/2026
Thomson's highly regarded expert-led online learning courses are now easier to access on the go via our new App.
Available now on Google Play Store, the J...
16/06/2026
Neumann.Berlin has released firmware version 2.0 for the MT 48 audio interface, adding plugin compatibility, expanded Dante networking options, broadcast encode...
16/06/2026
TVNewsCheck has announced that nominations are now open for its 2027 Women in Technology Awards, to be presented at NAB Show 2027 on Tuesday, April 6 in the Med...
16/06/2026
Clear-Com has announced Avalon, a 1RU IP intercom platform for broadcast, live events, and production environments. Designed for IP-only workflows, Avalon suppo...
16/06/2026
SNS has published a guide to remote video editing workflows using its EVO shared storage platform and companion tools, covering use cases ranging from home edit...
16/06/2026
Grass Valley has announced that the Richmond Flying Squirrels, a Minor League Baseball affiliate of the San Francisco Giants, have deployed five Grass Valley LD...
16/06/2026
The Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS) has announced the launch of the Official IPMX Training Series, a free online program covering the design, configurati...
16/06/2026
Swerve TV has announced distribution agreements with Fubo, Plex, Amazon Fire TV,...
16/06/2026
ATP and TikTok have announced an expansion of their global content partnership, extending the ATP's TikTok hub powered by TikTok GamePlan to cover all nine ...
16/06/2026
Network's LA facility serves as the heart of a sprawling operation built to ...
16/06/2026
At Pico, the network's media-management team is supporting a flood of HBS fe...
16/06/2026
The NHL will no longer air on CBC after the pulic broadcasters and national rights-holder Rogers Sportsnet were unable to come to agreement.
After a successfu...
16/06/2026
As live sports broadcasters continue to seek new ways to make complex action mor...
16/06/2026
Built with the 2026 FIFA World Cup in mind, these small but mighty IP-based tran...
16/06/2026
Boasts individual synths for each band
UVI's latest synth takes an interesting approach to synthesis, offering a trio of synth engines that each operate...
16/06/2026
New intelligent auto-fader plug-in unveiled
PSPaudioware's latest release offers automatic level adjustment and provides more detailed control than many...
16/06/2026
New performance-focused library announced
Crystal Pads is the latest addition to The Crow Hill Company's ever-growing product range, and according to th...
16/06/2026
Developed in partnership with Sequential
In recent years, GForce Software have branched into official emulations of classic hardware synths, delivering a ha...
16/06/2026
Designed specifically for live performance monitoring
beyerdynamic's latest announcement sees the company introduce an affordable in-ear monitoring syst...
16/06/2026
Official emulation celebrates iconic synth's 40th anniversary
Cherry Audio have just introduced Ensoniq ESQ-1, an official recreation of the 1986 polyph...
16/06/2026
Australians place growing trust in SBS News
16 June, 2026
Media releases
SBS has been recognised as one of Australia's most trusted news providers, ran...
16/06/2026
Rohde & Schwarz achieves highest number of GCF validated 3GPP NR NTN test cases ...
16/06/2026
Bydgoszcz to Become a Local Centre of Excellence for Advanced Rail Technologies....
16/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
16/06/2026
87 Percent of Creators Who Use Creative AI Say It Is Growing Their Business and ...
16/06/2026
Historic Zhuque-3 Reusable Rocket Test Mission Captured with URSA Cine Immersive
Brie Clayton June 16, 2026
0 Comments
Apple Immersive Video puts view...
16/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
16/06/2026
Rise WIB, the award-winning advocacy group championing gender diversity and career progression across the broadcast and media technology industry, today announc...
16/06/2026
Limecraft today announced the availability of Limecraft 2026.4, the fourth of eight planned platform releases this year. The update introduces Team-Based Access...
16/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
16/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
16/06/2026
Free Program Supports IPMX Education from Foundational Concepts Through System and Network Design
The Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS) today announced t...
16/06/2026
Share your views on Screen Australia and the future of the industry 15 June 2026
Your feedback matters.
Following the instrumental insights provided in 2025,...
16/06/2026
Enterprises are moving agentic AI from proof of concept to production - and the next generation of AI factories are built for the era of agents.
At HPE Discove...
16/06/2026
AI runs at the speed of light. More and more, that light is made in Texas.
Cohe...
16/06/2026
Techtel Supports T-Motion RCCP-2A Controller Upgrade for Major Australian Broadc...
16/06/2026
Tuesday 16 June 2026
Record audiences tune in for opening weekend of ICC Women&...
16/06/2026
Every breakthrough AI model starts the same way: with a training run. The infrastructure running those training jobs shapes everything: how fast teams can itera...
15/06/2026
One of the more exciting internal video production divisions within a college at...
15/06/2026
The deal valued at $22 Billion is expected to close in the first half of 2027...