Live From 2022 NFL Draft: Van Wagner Looks To Bring Vegas Style to Onsite Show on the Strip The emphasis is on entertainment in a return to in-person production By Jason Dachman, Chief Editor
Thursday, April 28, 2022 - 4:20 pm
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
After a fully virtual production in 2020 and a hybrid production last year, Van Wagner Sports & Entertainment (VWSE) Productions is back at the NFL Draft in full force this week in Las Vegas. While VWSE is continuing to support feed coming in remotely from draftees' homes and NFL team facilities, its presence onsite has returned to pre-pandemic levels to serve the hordes of fans on hand at the Las Vegas Strip.
Onsite, we're pretty much back to full bore pre COVID from a fan-experience perspective, says Nate McCoart, director, technical operations, VWSE Productions. We expect the site to be pretty packed over the couple days, and we're looking forward to entertaining the fans.
VWSE Productions' Nate McCoart (left) and Bob Becker on hand at the NFL Draft in Las Vegas
McCoart says the team onsite is slightly larger than at last year's Draft in Cleveland and similar to pre-pandemic levels with 150-175 crew members in Vegas. VWSE's main compound just behind the Draft's main stage serves all facets of the show: NEP Denali Summit handling its main-stage theater production, Denali California the Red Carpet stage production. Bexel is on hand to manage fiber and signal transport across the show - from the compound to the Bellagio Fountain to the Red Carpet. VWSE also has office space in the Forum for its creative team and is once again working with Thumbwar on all its postproduction workflows and storage infrastructure.
We have an edit team onsite and a whole slew more working remotely across the country on the postproduction side, says McCoart. It's pretty amazing to see how that side of things has evolved over the past few years.
Ross Video is on hand, providing XPression and Tessera graphics systems for VWSE's main-stage canvases on both the main stage and Red Carpet. VWSE is also deploying a large XPression kit, several Carbonite Mosaic LED video processors, and multipole Ultrix routers to manage the swath of LED video-boards scattered throughout the Strip.
VWSE VP, Productions, Brian Scott and Creative Director Aaron Fletcher are overseeing Van Wagner's monumental content-creation operation.
Their team have [made] these screens and technology shine, says Bob Becker, EVP, productions, VWSE Productions. They are just blackboards and computers without the stuff these guys do.
On the remote side, VWSE has worked with NFL Media to bring in live feeds from all 32 NFL teams' facilities as well as the homes of 21 Draft prospects.
There was a major advancement made on the virtual side of things last year in Cleveland and, of course, in 2020, says McCoart. We've adapted that virtual plan with NFL Media this year and continue to enhance that part of the show.
This year, NFL Media is sending a camera crew to each prospect's home rather than sending a kit for the prospect to assemble onsite. As in the past, all transmission and distribution of these feeds will run on TVU IP systems.
We're continuing the learnings of the last couple of years in the remote world, mixed with a bit of a return to normalcy with folks being comfortable with having camera [operators] in their homes, says McCoart. That provides a a little bit more control to that world and is a bit of fresh air in terms of operational coordination.
ESPN's Bristol, CT, facility and NFL Media's HQ in Inglewood, CA, will be able to bring in these TVU feeds directly for studio productions - a major advantage in that these feeds don't occupy valuable transmission lines between the two sites.
It has been really exciting how the event has been able to spread across Vegas from the main stage at the Forum all the way up through Las Vegas Boulevard to the Bellagio Fountain and the Red Carpet, says McCoart. It's also great to get the band back together and see some folks in person that we haven't seen in person in quite a while. It's a fun event because it's so different from a traditional game. It's a genuine entertainment experience, and that's what makes it unique. It's all about the spectacle, and I have to say it's one of my favorite events of the year.
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...
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 ...
18/08/2026
SMT will provide race technology for FOX Sports' coverage of the Freedom 250 Grand Prix of Washington, D.C. on August 23, when the NTT INDYCAR SERIES races ...
18/08/2026
The live, YouTube-native roundtables combine fan voices, credentialed reporters,...
18/08/2026
Behind The Mic provides a roundup of recent news regarding on-air talent, includ...
18/08/2026
The industry legend sounds off on replacing the Heat's iconic Medusa score...
18/08/2026
William F. Rasmussen, the sports fan-turned broadcaster and entrepreneur whose out-of-the-box idea of a 24-hour cable sports network, ESPN, changed forever the ...
18/08/2026
DAZN Group has completed its acquisition of ViewLift, a provider of streaming and digital solutions for sports content owners. The acquisition was first announc...
18/08/2026
The American Association of Professional Baseball (AAPB) has added SI TV, Sports Illustrated's 24/7 streaming channel, as a broadcast partner for the remain...
18/08/2026
The Esports Foundation has announced that the inaugural Esports Nations Cup (ENC), originally scheduled for November 2026 in Riyadh, will be postponed to Novemb...
18/08/2026
Diversified has announced a new Global Managed Services Practice, consolidating the company's managed services capabilities into one organization. Rob Mello...
18/08/2026
Appear has completed a proof of concept with Thoroughbred Racing Productions (TRP), demonstrating multi-camera remote live production over bonded 5G cellular an...
Live From 2022 NFL Draft: Van Wagner Looks To Bring Vegas Style to Onsite Show on the Strip The emphasis is on entertainment in a return to in-person production By Jason Dachman, Chief Editor 
