The Age of Apple Begins: Inside the New MLS League Pass Studios in NYC and the League's Connected-Production' Ecosystem

The Age of Apple Begins: Inside the New MLS League Pass Studios in NYC and the League's Connected-Production' Ecosystem The team is deploying a mix of NEP mobile units and production and data-center facilities By Jason Dachman, Chief Editor

Friday, February 24, 2023 - 4:01 pm

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It's a new day for Major League Soccer, which will kick off its 10-year rights deal with Apple this weekend. In addition to carrying every game, Apple's newly launched MLS League Pass streaming service will feature an MLS 360 whip-around show, as well as MLS Countdown and MLS Wrap-up studio shows - all produced from the league's brand-new production center in New York City.

The new MLS 360 set features multiple looks, including this pedestal desk.

We're going to be doing studio shows every week, said Gary Stevenson, deputy commissioner, MLS and president/managing director, MLS Business Ventures, at a media event on Wednesday. It's going to allow fans to get in and out of matches. This [new service] is really fan-focused. We're just thrilled to be here and go to work on Saturday and deliver this great content to the world.

In addition to launching impressive new studios within the MLS production hub in NYC, MLS and Apple have also partnered with NEP Group and IMG Productions to produce more than 950 matches representing more than 2,000 hours of live coverage in a mix of English, Spanish, and French. To pull this coast-to-coast effort off, NEP is providing dozens of mobile units at MLS venues and has built a connected ecosystem that leverages its centralized-production facilities and technological infrastructure in Dallas, Los Angeles, New York, South Florida, and Washington, DC.

Inside the Studios: Despite Condensed Timeline, New Sets Are Ready for Opener MLS's new production facility were built at NEP's Metropolis studio location in East Harlem, previously home to shows like BET's 106 and Park, Comedy Central's Chappelle's Show, and Food Network's Chopped. The centerpiece is a 6,500-sq.-ft. set featuring a massive 55- x 17-ft. 1.5-mm LED screen weighing in at 6,000 lb. and is the largest of any studio in New York City. In addition to the main studio, which serves as home to the new MLS 360 RedZone-style whip-around show, the facility houses two smaller sets for English and Spanish versions of the pre/postgame and halftime shows.

The new 55 -x 17-ft. 1.5-mm LED screen is the largest in any studio in New York City.

I think [the studios are] emblematic of the focus that Apple has on design and are trying to use design as a way to improve the customer experience, said Jim DeLorenzo, head of sports, video business, Apple. But a ton of credit here should go not just to the Apple team but to MLS, NEP, and IMG to bring this all together. When you look at this studio and you see all these different spaces, it's going to allow [MLS] to have a dynamic broadcast over the five-plus hours of a match night.

As part of the project, NEP fully refurbished existing studio space, control room, and audio room - all now being used by MLS 360 - with the latest equipment. Although control surfaces for the switcher, replay, graphics, and so on are in the control room, the technical infrastructure is located at NEP's data center at Equinix's DA11 facility in Dallas.

The production-control room for the MLS 360 studio was fully refurbished in advance of the launch.

The other two studios and their corresponding control rooms and audio rooms were built from scratch with equipment racks onsite. In addition, NEP constructed a dedicated EVS replay room, 12 edit suites, and office space for a variety of MLS, IMG, and NEP production staff.

The main LED display was provided by NEP's Creative Technology arm, and the majority of the equipment was provided by Bexel and integrated by NEP's in-house system-integration team.

This panel area is one of several looks inside the MLS 360 studio.

Construction took place on an ultra-short timeline: the previous tenant moved out of Metropolis Studios on Dec. 17, and physical construction and technical integration began just after the New Year. Just six weeks later, the new MLS Season Pass studios were up and running for rehearsals, and the facility will make its grand debut tomorrow on the first match day of the season.

It was the effort of a ton of people from MLS, Apple, IMG, and NEP to create this space, said Global President, NEP Broadcast Services, Mike Werteen. It was an extremely short timeframe for the actual buildout, so we had to have everything in place ahead of time.

I can't overstate how much of a priority NEP has put on this project - not just the studio but the entire connected-production ecosystem, he continued. [For] more than 200 people in seven states and five countries for the past five months, it has been their primary responsibility to make this happen. And then hundreds more from our teams around the globe have touched [this project] in some fashion. It has been an absolutely unbelievable effort by everyone involved.

On the new MLS set, (from left) MLS on-air host Kaylyn Kyle moderates a panel comprising MLS's Gary Stevenson, Apple's Jim DeLorenzo, NEP's Mike Werteen, and IMG's Barney Francis.

The new MLS 360 provides live look-ins from every match, showcasing every goal, penalty kick, and big save and providing analysis and discussion throughout each match night.

Whip-around shows aren't new, but our whip-around show is going to bring to life the [on-air] talents that we have and bring to life all the goals as they happen, said Barney Francis, EVP, IMG. It's going be light, but it's also going to be serious where it needs to be. We are giving people a one-stop shop if you want to watch all the goa

LINK:	https://www.sportsvideo.org/2023/02/24/the-age-of-apple-begins-inside-...
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