Abundant player mics and RF and other ground-level cameras will be used to capture interactions on the fieldAfter a last-minute shift from Riyadh to Los Angeles, the Fanatics Flag Football Classic kicks off at BMO Stadium, site of LA28 Olympics flag football, on Saturday with some of the biggest names in pro football taking the field. Fanatics Studio and FOX Sports will deploy a profusion of field-level cameras and player/coach mics in an effort to capture unique moments with the star-studded rosters - led by the GOAT himself, Tom Brady.
This broadcast is certainly about the competition itself, but the personalities and the on-field access are equally as important, says Mike Davies, EVP, technical and field operations, FOX Sports. Unlike in [traditional football], they won't be wearing helmets, so that adds another layer of accessibility. We're adding a lot of player mics, which we feel is always extremely valuable for our UFL coverage, and additional wireless field-level cameras. Those are going to be even more important [given] the well-known personalities on the field and the nature of the game.
Battle of the NFL Stars: It's About More Than the Action
The Fanatics Flag Football Classic event is being produced by Fanatics Studios (the new joint venture of Fanatics and OBB Media) in association with Shadow Lion; the telecast is being handled by FOX Sports. The event features three 12-player teams competing in a round-robin tournament: two teams comprise a mix of current and former NFL stars and top athletes; the third is represented by the U.S. Men's National Team.
Founders FFC will be captained by Brady and Jalen Hurts and coached by Sean Payton. Wildcats FFC will be captained by Jayden Daniels and Joe Burrow and coached by Kyle Shanahan. Robert Saleh will serve as a defensive specialist for both teams. Also participating will be Davante Adams, Saquon Barkley, Odell Beckham Jr., Stefon Diggs, Myles Garrett, Rob Gronkowski, DeAndre Hopkins, Derwin James Jr., Ashton Jeanty, Kyle Juszczyk, Alvin Kamara, Luke Kuechly, Tyrann Mathieu, Von Miller, Jalen Ramsey, Deebo Samuel, and DeVonta Smith, as well as athletes/entertainers IShowSpeed, Logan Paul, and Terrence Bud Crawford. Newly inducted NFL Football Hall of Famers Drew Brees and Larry Fitzgerald will be on hand, serving as commissioners.
With only two weeks' notice, the venue for the Fanatics Flag Football Classic was changed from Riyadh's Kingdom Arena to L.A.'s BMO Stadium. I think that the science of doing a compelling flag-football broadcast is still being written, says Davies. It has certainly been done many times before, but this is our first crack at it, so we see an opportunity to start from scratch. As the sport increases in popularity and notoriety ahead of the [2028] Olympics, I think you're going to see a lot more of this. We're excited to start wrapping our heads around how to create a compelling live broadcast for flag football.
Flag-Football Production 101: Deploy the A Team
To produce the broadcast, FOX has brought in its NFL on FOX A team, led by six-time-Super-Bowl director Rich Russo. Along with producer Mark Teitelman, Russo and the rest of the A team will operate out of NEP ND1 A, B, C, and D mobile units, which are equipped with eight 12-channel EVS XT-VIA production servers.
With Rich and his team there, says Davies, we will have a lot of institutional knowledge in terms of football [production] - albeit traditional football, not flag football. And all our Class A operators are in the mix, so you can expect a top-level show.
To cover the field, the production team will use four wireless RF cameras provided by NEP Specialty Capture: two Steadicams, a handheld, and a Megalodon shallow-depth-of-field rig.
We've watched our share of flag football to understand the modifications for camera roles, Davies notes. The aspect that became apparent to us right off the bat was the importance of wireless and ground-level cameras. We are leaning into that, so we've got a couple of Steadicams and a wireless handheld, the Meg, along with the player mics and things like that. That's going to provide a more intimate type of storytelling similar to what we do with UFL.
In all, FOX will have more than 30 cameras at its disposal, led by 18 Sony cameras (including six super-slo-mos), a line-to-gain system, and six Proton POVs (1080p SDR with a Cyanview RCP).
Because the games will follow modified Olympic-style flag-football rules (two 15-minute halves with a running clock) on a 50- x 25-yard field, FOX has adapted its primary game cameras.
It's a smaller field so you don't have to have [cameras on the] 25-yard lines like in [traditional football], says Ted Kenney, director, field and technical operations, FOX Sports. Instead,we are placing a couple cameras dead center - a tight and a wide - and focusing our efforts on those ground-level, on-field cameras as much as possible.
With the smaller field, he continues, I think flag football is very much like a basketball game, where a lot of your [coverage] is down low and you want to get those interactions between players. We will have a cart, high-end-zone, and [traditional positions] like that, but we're emphasizing those cameras on the field.
To capture the chatter on the field, NEP Rentals is providing 12 player mics (plus two spares), six coach mics (plus two spares), and four RF parabs.
FOX Sports emphasizes on-field mics and cameras for coverage of the Fanatics Flag Football Classic. We anticipate a fun but competitive atmosphere, says Kenney, so I think the [player mics] are going to play a big role. We imagine there's going to be a wide mix of friendly chatter and trash talk. Having those mics to capture those conversations will be great.
In terms of on-air talent, actor/comedia
