
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
09/11/2025
Dalet today announced a transformative leap forward for media operations: Agentic Artificial Intelligence (AI) that unifies the Dalet ecosystem under one natura...
06/10/2025
France T l visions, France's leading broadcaster, has received the 2025 EBU ...
15/09/2025
Steve Zahn, Winona Ryder, Ethan Hawke, and Janeane Garofalo star in Ben Stiller&...
15/09/2025
Global K-Pop sensation aespa is redefining what it means to be rich with the r...
15/09/2025
Every day, millions of people around the world turn to Spotify to enjoy the audi...
15/09/2025
After months of intensive planning and implementation, Brembo SGL Carbon Ceramic...
15/09/2025
A U.S. Marine launches a Javelin shoulder-fired anti-tank missile during a training exercise. (Photo credit: U.S. Marine Corps)...
15/09/2025
AMSTERDAM TV Tech has named its Best of Show Awards winners for IBC2025, which wraps up today. Entrants were judged by a panel of industry experts on the criter...
15/09/2025
Unique sports content orchestration platform builds momentum among SES's cus...
15/09/2025
Back to All News
The Great Flood' Teaser Trailer Previews A Gripping Struggle for Survival
Entertainment
15 September 2025
GlobalSouth Korea
Link copi...
15/09/2025
Back to All News
From Hardship to Hope: Typhoon Family' Presents a Tale of...
15/09/2025
Back to All News
Gloom Goes Global as Wednesday's' The Doom Tour Hit...
15/09/2025
-- Opens door to growth in renewable energy New Delhi, India - 15th September -- Global business and industry leaders from around the world are joining technol...
14/09/2025
Partnership to address business and technical challenges of DMF adoption
he Advanced Media Workflow Association (AMWA) and the European Broadcasting Union (EBU...
14/09/2025
WARNER BROS. TELEVISION'S THE PITT (HBO MAX) WINS FIVE EMMY AWARDS, INCLU...
14/09/2025
Back to All News
Mantis' Trailer Previews High-Stakes Rivalries to Be No. ...
13/09/2025
ATLANTA Cox Media Group has announced that the company's vice president of news, Misty Turnbull has been inducted into the National Academy of Television Ar...
13/09/2025
AMSTERDAM Shotoku Broadcast Systems, a major developer of robotic systems, has announced plans to take studio robotics to the next level at IBC2025 by debuting ...
13/09/2025
At IBC2025 in Amsterdam, Riedel Communications unveiled Bolero Mini, the company's lightest and flattest wireless intercom beltpack to date. Designed to del...
13/09/2025
Shotoku Broadcast Systems, the international developer of dependable, userfriendly robotic systems, is taking studio robotics to the next level at IBC 2025 with...
13/09/2025
Bitmovin, a leading provider of video streaming solutions, today released the 9th annual Video Developer Report 2025/26, offering an in-depth look at the evolvi...
13/09/2025
Bitmovin, the leading provider of video streaming solutions, today announced a strategic partnership with StreamShark, the trusted video platform for enterprise...
13/09/2025
Ikegami has chosen IBC 2025 in Amsterdam as the launch venue for a major addition to its range of viewfinders. The new VFE-P711AD is a 7-inch high resolution OL...
13/09/2025
Founder-led Merger to Fast Track R&D, Asset Library Upgrades, Tools and More; No Disruption to Pricing or Support for Users
Today, KitBash3D, a pioneer in 3D a...
13/09/2025
With NDI certification, Atomos integration, Grass Valley collaboration, and a new Monitor app, at this year's IBC, Mavis is showcasing a series of powerful...
13/09/2025
Creamsource, maker of artisan LED lighting for film and television, has unveiled the Vortex24 Soft (V24S), a 1950W native soft light and the largest soft source...
13/09/2025
When international sports streaming service DAZN secured the global rights to the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup football tournament, it set out to deliver an unmatch...
13/09/2025
Riedel Communications today announced the acquisition of hi human interface from Broadcast Solutions, bringing a powerful, vendor-agnostic control system to it...
13/09/2025
Building on its long-term relationship with audio metering specialist RTW, Calrec has integrated the company's brand new TMxCore metering platform across it...
13/09/2025
Calrec is expanding its family of future-ready self-contained Argo M control surfaces at IBC2025, with the addition of a brand new powerful 48-fader console. Co...
13/09/2025
Celtic languages - including Cornish, Irish, Scottish Gaelic and Welsh - are the U.K.'s oldest living languages. To empower their speakers, the UK-LLM sover...
13/09/2025
Harmonic's Software-Based XOS Advanced Media Processor Provides Unparalleled Efficiency and Unlocks New Business Models SAN JOSE, Calif. - Sept. 13, 2025 -...
13/09/2025
Researchers find brain region that fuels compulsive drinking Study by Scripps Research scientists shows how the brain learns to seek alcohol for relief, not jus...
12/09/2025
College Football Kickoff 2025: Fox Sports Ups Look as Canon, Sony Power Shallow ...
12/09/2025
ABC/ESPN Excited For WNBA Postseason Coverage In Revamped FormatThe Finals moves to a best-of-seven series in 2025By Mark J Burns, SVG Contributor
Friday, Sep...
12/09/2025
(L-R) Jade Croot, Rosy McEwen, and Bryn Chainey attend the 2025 Sundance Film Festival premiere of Rabbit Trap at Eccles Theatre on January 24, 2025, in Park ...
12/09/2025
For fans, we know how important it is to stay plugged into music culture and dis...
12/09/2025
Link ping, Sweden and Shipley, United Kingdom, September 12, 2025 - Agama, the expert in video observability and analytics for service quality and customer expe...
12/09/2025
IBC2025 began on Sept. 12, with exhibits and conferences running through Sept. 15 at the RAI Amsterdam Convention Center. Explore the full TV Tech coverage of t...
12/09/2025
The Best Fictional Bands (and the Artists Who Make Them Great) With Spinal Tap II: The End Continues hitting theaters and songs from KPop Demon Hunters ruling...
12/09/2025
Industry veteran Tom Baldassare has joined Advanced Systems Group, LLC (ASG), a technology and services provider for media creatives and content owners, as a Se...
12/09/2025
Maxon, maker of powerful, approachable software solutions for creators working in 2D and 3D design, motion graphics, visual effects, and more, today announced a...
12/09/2025
PlayBox Neo, a leading provider of media playout solutions, has partnered with AI-Media, pioneering developers of AI-powered captioning technology, to integrate...
12/09/2025
Dalet today announced a transformative leap forward for media operations: Agentic Artificial Intelligence (AI) that unifies the Dalet ecosystem under one natura...
12/09/2025
New alliance strengthens the IT channel in Germany and Switzerland in protecting business-critical SaaS data.
Keepit, the world s only independent, cloud-nativ...
12/09/2025
Fincons Group, an international IT business consultancy and systems integrator company with more than 40 years of experience in the market, is proud to announce...
12/09/2025
Following its acquisition of Telemetrics, EVS continues its push into robotics with an announcement at IBC2025 that it is acquiring XD motion....
12/09/2025
TORONTO The North American Broadcasters Association (NABA) has announced the appointment of Eduardo Ruiz Sanchez, deputy director, broadcast operations at Telev...
12/09/2025
Ed Miller, a longtime broadcast engineer in Ohio and a former national president of the Society of Broadcast Engineers, has died....
12/09/2025
AMSTERDAM At this year's IBC2025, the Advanced HDR by Technicolor initiative will be pushing broadcasters to adopt a more dynamic, frame-by-frame conversion...