Live From MLB All-Star 2023: MLB Network, ESPN Welcome Next Generation of Superstars at MLB Draft This year's event is held at Seattle Seahawks' Lumen Field By Kristian Hern ndez, Senior Editor
Sunday, July 9, 2023 - 10:28 am
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
After traveling to Denver in 2021 and Los Angeles in 2022, fans tuning into the 2023 Major League Baseball Draft will witness another large-scale production, this year at Lumen Field in Seattle. Normally the home of the NFL's Seahawks, MLS's Seattle Sounders, and other professional teams, the venue will host the tentpole broadcast produced with increased efforts by both MLB Network and ESPN.
We've done this for only three years, says Tom Guidice, VP, remote operations, MLB Network, but this set is larger than last year's, and we'll be working in the largest stadium we've ever had for the MLB Draft. We're lucky to work with great Draft partners since we decided to take this show out of our studio.
From left: MLB Network's Jason Hedgcock, Susan Stone, Tom Guidice, Chris Roenbeck, and Marc Caiafa in Seattle
Go-To Location: Lumen Field Becomes Clear Choice in Seattle In Seattle, it's hard to ignore the sound of screaming fans at Lumen Field. Perceived as one of the toughest environments to play in for visiting NFL teams, the venue is an important aspect of the city's landscape. Since it has become a major sports focal point, MLB Network added the building to its list of potential host sites for this year's MLB Draft. The production and operations team did their due diligence, considered multiple locales from site surveys, and chose Lumen Field.
There were three other venues in play, says Guidice. After looking at all of them, it made a lot of sense because of its proximity to the ballpark.
Seattle's Lumen Field is the home of the 2023 MLB Draft.
Given last year's layout - L.A. Live was nearly four miles from Dodger Stadium - the short distance from the home of the Draft to the home of the MLB All-Star Game was a nice change of pace. From an operational perspective, the team is reveling in the fact that it's right next door to T-Mobile Park, but, in a five-day stretch requiring movement of resources and staffers, the physical distance can still pose an interesting and time-sensitive challenge.
There are a lot of positives about [the two venues'] being together, notes Jason Hedgcock, senior director, remote technical operations, MLB Network, but we're a bit farther apart in real life than what it looked like on paper. You have to be a bit better with your planning. If you have to get a reporter or an operator to a specific location, you have to be on top of your schedule and make sure that everyone's headed in the right direction with enough time.
The main operations trailer sits beneath the football stadium.
Despite working within a broadcast-ready facility, the team is not accessing the venue's permanent infrastructure. Opting for a temporary footprint in the name of greater efficiency, Hedgcock and his transmissions team ran tactical fiber 3,000 ft. from their section of the compound to the main stage in Lumen Field.
This [running of fiber] not only services our needs, he adds, but also supports ESPN and MLB Operations. The MLB Draft is essentially the league's biggest meeting of the year, and that aspect is sometimes overshadowed.
With the compound in a convenient location, MLB Network deployed two trucks, the A and B units of Game Creek Video 79, to handle Sunday's MLB Draft. Onsite editions of MLB Tonight with Albert Pujols, Pedro Martinez, and others and Intentional Talk with Ryan Dempster, Kevin Millar, and Siera Santos will also be handled from them. Talent on the shows will be joined by current MLB All-Stars through the help of VP, News and Production, Doug Jaclin and Supervising Producers Adam Helfgott and Chris Arnowich.
Broadcast Tech: Zoom Brings in Team Draft Rooms, Remote Prospects Using techniques developed for COVID-era Drafts, MLB Network is improving integration of offsite participants through Zoom. With two dedicated Zoom interfaces, one or multiple feeds can be spliced into the broadcast. One group will feature the Draft rooms of all 30 MLB clubs; the other will be populated by more than 20 picks reporting in from home in real time.
Along with the Zoom feeds, the broadcast will deploy traditional broadcast equipment, including two RF handhelds, an extended jib for the main stage, and a hard camera positioned in Section 136 of Lumen Field. Control rooms at MLBN headquarters in Secaucus, NJ, are handling graphics operations. Content teams are also pitching in to tell the stories of these future MLB stars with highlight packages and other editorial pieces.
An extended jib camera is positioned behind the seating area at Lumen Field.
Secaucus always plays an important role on this production, says Susan Stone, SVP, operations and engineering, MLB Network. They'll also be involved in a lot of the shows that we're producing back home.
In addition, Days 2 and 3 of the MLB Draft will be produced remotely from the New Jersey facility.
Drawing Extra Attention: Stage Layout Mixes With MLB PLAY BALL Park Activation At field level, MLB has developed a blueprint that meshes the venue's gargantuan size and the league's main fan destination in a unique way. A white shell over the MLB Draft stage blocks the seating and overhang from the main sightline of the production.
Unless we show a beauty shot of the venue, you probably wouldn't even know that the stage was in a larger stadium, says Guidice. [MLB's events team] did a really great job with the setup and the d cor that has been put around it.
The MLB Network set for Sunday's MLB Draft
The field itself has
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
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...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
20/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
20/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
20/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
20/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
20/08/2026
IPC Expands Brazilian Presence with New Channel Partner CCATech
Industry veterans Carlos Abrah o and Bruno Lopes strengthen local support and expand IPCs prese...
20/08/2026
Zixi Enters Mauritius Market Through Strategic Deployment with MTC Jockey Club
Worlds Oldest Horse Racing Club in the Southern Hemisphere Selects Zixis Softwar...
20/08/2026
LA JOLLA, CA-Scripps Research assistant professor Tiantian Liu has received a five-year NIAID DP2 award from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Di...
20/08/2026
Audiences reveal appetite for multicultural Australia on-screen 20 August 2026
Dr Georgie McClean, Dr Rebecca Huntley (L-R)
By Dr Georgie McClean and Dr Rebec...
20/08/2026
How Mavis Studio Is Expanding Live Production Teaching at Sussex
Brie Clayton August 19, 2026
0 Comments
Hero image displays a student about to mix be...
20/08/2026
Vertical Unscripted Series Legal Queens Captured with Blackmagic Design
Brie Clayton August 19, 2026
0 Comments
Reality TV veteran Eric Gardner create...
19/08/2026
As the cost of IP nears price parity with traditional SDI, Reynolds argues that ...
19/08/2026
A private 5G bubble was chosen instead of traditional broadcast RF for the race ...
19/08/2026
(L-R) Rafael Manuel and Isabel Sicat attend the Filipi ana premiere during the 2026 Sundance Film Festival at The Ray Theatre on January 23, 2026, in Park Cit...
19/08/2026
Studio owners invited to have their say on rates cuts
The Music Producers Guild (MPG) are inviting UK-based studios to take part in an in-depth survey that ...
19/08/2026
Vintage-inspired desktop interface revealed
Harrison's latest hardware offering sees them head into the world of audio interfaces, delivering a 10-in/12...
19/08/2026
Granular effect remains locked to scale and tempo
Described as your dream granular effect , Minimal Audio's latest creation is capable of turning any s...
19/08/2026
First polyphonic SWAM instrument incoming
Audio Modeling's latest physical-modelling orchestral instrument is just around the corner, and is now availab...
19/08/2026
World Cup Games Generate 84 Billion Minutes Across FOX, Fox Sports 1 and NBCU...
19/08/2026
July brought typical peak-holiday drops in viewership, driven primarily by viewers stepping away from screens and a visible decline in reach across both traditi...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Henry joins BCE as the company accelerates its commercial strategy and expands its international presence across the media, broadcast and technology markets. He...
19/08/2026
iWedia, a leading provider of software solutions for connected TV devices, today announced a major milestone in Android platform optimization with the successfu...
19/08/2026
NTP Technology announces that ST 2110-30 audio-over-IP connectivity with AES67 and RAVENNA capabilities is now available for the brand's world-class audio i...
19/08/2026
Net Insight has been selected to provide its Nimbra platform by the service provider Big Blue Marble, formerly ORS Group, as the core media transport solution f...
19/08/2026
LiveU has supported Coventry City FC and several other top-flight UK football clubs through one of their most demanding live production challenges of the year, ...
19/08/2026
Nature Seekers Documentary Shot with Blackmagic URSA Cine 12K LF
Brie Clayton August 18, 2026
0 Comments
Filming endangered turtles required camera...
19/08/2026
Neyrinck Brings D-Control Consoles Back to Life on Apple Silicon with D-Control ...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Riedel Communications today announced that Edith Cowan University (ECU) in Perth, Australia, implemented a comprehensive communications infrastructure that brin...
19/08/2026
QuickLink, a leading provider of award-winning video production and remote guest contribution solutions, will spotlight a major leap forward in remote guest con...
19/08/2026
Integrated platform melds media asset management, playout automation and newsroom workflows
EMAM, PlayBox Neo and SNEWS have officially launched Nuvex, a conne...
19/08/2026
Screen Australia releases the Private Investment Toolkit to strengthen screen in...
19/08/2026
Do Aussies truly value local content? Unpacking Screen Currency 2026 with Deirdr...
19/08/2026
There's an early Christmas gift for Bookish fans, as UKTV confirms the re-commission of the hit U&alibi drama, created by and starring Mark Gatiss. Viewers ...
19/08/2026
Wednesday 19 August 2026
Sky gives sports fans the chance to watch multiple liv...
19/08/2026
On Saturday September 5 Katie Taylor will step into the ring for the fight of her life against Flora Pili in front of 80,000 fans in Croke Park. A legendary fig...
18/08/2026
SportStream 2026, a free three-day virtual event, will take place September 15-17. One registration provides access to all three days of live programming and on...
18/08/2026
BeckTV will introduce BeckFlow to the European market at IBC2026, demonstrated on the Providius stand (10.F53).
BeckFlow is a web-based schematic documentation...
18/08/2026
Boland Communications will introduce a SMPTE ST 2110 input option for its 4K monitors at IBC2026, along with a new 55-inch super-narrow bezel display for video ...
18/08/2026
Dolby Laboratories and the Seattle Seahawks have announced a partnership integrating Dolby OptiView into the Seahawks' live streaming coverage, making the S...
18/08/2026
For BMG Executive Producer of Sports Production, Graham Taylor, producing live s...
18/08/2026
TMRW Sports has appointed Rufus Hack as President of Golf, a newly created role in which he will lead the company's golf businesses including TGL presented ...
Live From MLB All-Star 2023: MLB Network, ESPN Welcome Next Generation of Superstars at MLB Draft This year's event is held at Seattle Seahawks' Lumen Field By Kristian Hern ndez, Senior Editor 
