On the Hardwood: How Kyle Campbell Balanced Productions for the NBA's New Orleans Pelicans, NFL's Saints Mercedes-Benz Superdome, Smoothie King Center access the same control room By Kristian Hernandez, Associate Editor
Wednesday, February 24, 2021 - 11:43 am
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
The doldrums of 2020 may be in the past, but 2021 is still presenting challenges to in-venue production teams. Now out of the Orlando bubble, NBA organizations are hosting games in their home arenas and navigating the continuing difficulties of the pandemic. Like SVG's At the Ballpark and On the Gridiron series, On the Hardwood will take a look the hardships, creative ideas, and teamwork of NBA franchises.
Since the beginning of the NFL season in September, the city of New Orleans has been buzzing like it's a non-stop Mardi Gras. Three months later, when the NBA's Pelicans began their 2020-21 season, Kyle Campbell, director, game experience, New Orleans Saints and New Orleans Pelicans, became a very busy man. As Saints director, game day experience, he was tasked with balancing in-venue productions for two franchises simultaneously.
I didn't get much sleep and didn't get to see my wife as much as I would have liked to, he says. It has been a pretty crazy start to the Pelicans season.
MORE ON THE HARDWOOD INTERVIEWS:
After Assisting Fox Sports Sun, Miami Heat Retrofit Control Room for Games in AmericanAirlines Arena
Philadelphia 76ers Continue Treasured Traditions at Wells Fargo Center
Milwaukee Bucks Leverage NBA Bubble Experience for 2020-21 Slate at Fiserv Forum
Sacramento Kings Improve In-Venue, At-Home Experience With Intel True View at Golden 1 Center
Atlanta Hawks Honor Legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. in First of Season-Long Unity Nights'
Houston Rockets Work With League, RSNs To Produce Away Radio Broadcasts in Toyota Center
Golden State Warriors Connect Team, Chase Center to Fans at Home Through Dub Hub Experience
Despite Limited Fans, Cleveland Cavaliers Keep the Energy Up at Renovated Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse
Charlotte Hornets Redesign Mobile App To Bring Spectrum Center Content to the Home
Portland Trail Blazers Manage LED Displays at Moda Center To Educate, Entertain Fans on League Pass
Minnesota Timberwolves Feature On-Court Media Day With Drone Flyover at Target Center
Chicago Bulls Use Year-Old Videoboard, Mobile Predictive Gaming To Draw Up Production Plan
Denver Nuggets Repurpose RSN Broadcast With Some In-Venue Flavor
With Empty AT&T Center and Reduced Game-Day Staff, Spurs Add Digital Arena' to Mobile App
Two at a Time: Postseason Saints, Regular-Season Pelicans Take Over Downtown NOLA In other cities, two separate individuals would handle these roles for their respective organizations. In New Orleans, Campbell is tasked with handling two professional leagues that bump up against each other on the sports calendar. The COVID-19 pandemic added another layer of difficulty because the NBA wasn't sure when its season would begin.
The control room used by the New Orleans Saints and New Orleans Pelicans, here for the Pelicans-Celtics game on Feb. 21
In the NBA offseason, he says, we didn't know if we were going to start until after the new year or not. Luckily, leading up to that preseason game, we were on a three-game road trip with the Saints.
Campbell and his Pelicans crew had only a few days to develop a regular-season strategy. Sleepless nights and early mornings became normal, but it was only a prelude to what was to come over the next nine days: a Pelicans preseason game vs. the Milwaukee Bucks on Dec. 18, a Saints game in Week 15 vs. the Kansas City Chiefs on Dec. 20, a Friday-night Saints home game vs. the Minnesota Vikings on Christmas Day, and the Pelicans home opener vs. the San Antonio Spurs on Dec. 27. Over that span, the two franchises used the single control room that produces both shows.
During that week, he notes, we were mixing in tech rehearsals, putting together scripts; balancing internal communications with sponsorship, marketing, and sales; and booking talent. We also were getting ready for Saints playoffs on top of that.
With the success of the Saints throughout the year, the team was the No. 2 seed in the NFC and hosted the Wild Card Game at home vs. the Chicago Bears on Jan. 10. That night, the Pelicans were on the road in Dallas but didn't play because of COVID-19 protocols. After defeating the Bears, the Saints played host to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the Divisional Round on Jan. 17. Campbell was again able to fully keep his mind on football with the Pelicans playing the Sacramento Kings on the West Coast. The Saints' 10-point loss in the second round was heartbreaking but allowed Campbell to dive fully into his other responsibilities.
I'm extremely fortunate to have a job and expand our game experience in New Orleans quite a bit, he says. We have a high bar that we set for ourselves internally, so I'm able to bring in people to help fulfill [fan] expectations.
Games at The Blender: Smoothie King Center Videoboard Entertains In-Venue Fans As other teams gradually bring fans back into their venues, the Pelicans were one of a small group of organizations that allowed patrons in the seats at the beginning of the season. At first, the attendance limit was only 4% capacity, or 750 fans. Later, that number grew to 9%, or 1,400 fans, and now 16%, or 2,700 fans, are able to enter the turnstiles of Smoothie King Center. Although the nine-day stretch ending 2020 was a hectic time for the production crew, the hours spent devising a plan for Saints games during the regular season prior to fans' return paid off in a cohesive plan of attack for its NBA efforts.
Control-room positions are separated by plexiglass.
Our experience with the Saints
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 ...
On the Hardwood: How Kyle Campbell Balanced Productions for the NBA's New Orleans Pelicans, NFL's Saints Mercedes-Benz Superdome, Smoothie King Center access the same control room By Kristian Hernandez, Associate Editor 
