Live From MLB All-Star 2025: From Live Event Coverage to Studio Shows, MLB Network Covers the Gamut in Atlanta It has been a busy five days for the league's broadcast arm By Kristian Hern ndez, Senior Editor Tuesday, July 15, 2025 - 11:38 am
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
Starting three hours before first pitch of the 2025 HBCU Swingman Classic on Friday, July 11 to the final out of the 95th MLB All-Star Game tonight, MLB Network is providing five straight days of non-stop coverage from Atlanta. Ranging from events at Truist Park to onsite studio programming from sets around The Battery Atlanta, the broadcaster's schedule has been a one-stop shop for baseball fans.
It has truly become a five- to seven-day event for us with what we're doing, says Marc Caiafa, SVP, production, MLB Network. There's much fanfare and activity taking place throughout The Battery Atlanta, but we're prepared and excited that this time of year is finally here.
From left: Intentional Talk's Ryan Dempster, Siera Santos, and Kevin Millar on the on-field set at Truist Park
At Home in ATL: Site Surveys, Comprehensive Compound Layout Develop Strong Foundation MLB All-Star Games require lots of planning and strategizing, and this particular Midsummer Classic has been more than a half decade in the making. Truist Park was originally scheduled to host this event in 2020, only three years after its opening. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Major League Baseball decided to delay the start of the shortened regular season to late July, well after the traditional date of the All-Star Game. With only the second-ever cancellation in the event's nearly 100-year history - it was scrapped in 1945 because of travel restrictions associated with World War II - Atlanta's stint as host was pushed back to 2021. An act of state legislation that year would ultimately lead the league to shift the celebration to Los Angeles's Dodgers Stadium.
For this year's event, MLB Network dusted off some of the initial plans for Atlanta, adjusted its approach, and began conducting more rounds of site surveys.
We started planning for this two years in advance, in 2023, says Brooke Berger, senior director, remote operations, MLB Network. Space can be a premium at this ballpark, but I'm glad we started planning when we did.
From left: MLB Central's Robert Flores, Lauren Shehadi, and Mark DeRosa on the MLB Network set inside the Coca-Cola Roxy theater during Monday's MLB All-Star Media Day.
With offices located in Atlanta, there's no need for trailers in the broadcast compound at Truist Park. Three Game Creek Video production trucks are there, handling MLB Network's full slate of programming. On the live-event side, Varsity A and B have handled studio shows from the MLB Draft, MLB Media Day, the MLB Red Carpet Show, and numerous studio shows over the past five days. GCV Madison and Edit 3 are responsible for all live event productions, including the HBCU Swingman Classic, the MLB All-Star Futures Game, the MLB All-Star Celebrity Softball Game, and world feeds of the MLB Home Run Derby and MLB All-Star Game.
On top of that, we have eight to 10 crews for all of these MLB initiatives, led by [Senior Production Manager] Andrea Longueira, says Tommy Guidice, VP, remote operations, MLB Network. We're in a great place logistically at this ballpark.
From left: Melanie Newman, Jim Callis, Carlos Collazo, and Lance Brozdowski on the outdoor set during the 2025 MLB Draft
The mobile units and steadfast onsite personnel are vital resources in alleviating the congestion in the compound and coordinating multiple events around the city, but another aspect is Atlanta's summer weather. Besides the unrelenting heat and humidity, sudden thunderstorms can roll in, creating yet another wrinkle for MLB Network's operations teams. To streamline efforts for maximum efficiency, the broadcaster's headquarters in Secaucus, NJ are busy with remote productions for a majority of the onsite studio programming.
We're reusing a lot of our resources and sets for different shows across the board, which definitely helps us from a technical standpoint, says Zaac Christopher, director, remote technical operations, MLB Network. I think it's great to be located in one place.
The operations team is joined by MLB Senior Director, Technical Production and Special Projects, Jason Hedgcock and MLB Network Senior International Operations Manager Samantha Calastro.
Content From Cobb County: MLB All-Star Red Carpet Show Gets Wall-to-Wall Studio Coverage One MLB Network undertaking - possibly the biggest - moved its studio shows from New Jersey to The Battery Atlanta. The 2025 MLB All-Star edition of Intentional Talk with co-hosts Ryan Dempster, Kevin Millar, and Siera Santos was located in Secaucus on July 10 and moved to its first-base-side set for the July 14 edition prior to the MLB Home Run Derby. Similarly, MLB Tonight stayed home for three days' worth of shows with host Adnan Virk and analyst Steve Phillips before moving onsite for the National Pregame Show with co-hosts Greg Amsinger and Matt Vasgersian and analysts Dan Plesac, Albert Pujols, Harold Reynolds, Chris Young, and Dempster and postgame coverage of Home Run Derby with Virk. Today, the National Pregame Show features Amsinger, Plesac, Pujols, and Reynolds, and the postgame coverage will feature host Robert Flores, Plesac, and Young.
Dave Sims (left) and Harold Reynolds called the 2025 HBCU Swingman Classic on Friday.
MLB Central, one of MLB Network's staple programs, is onsite at MLB All-Star for the first time, hosting Monday's MLB Media Day. MLB Central: All-Star Media Day was led by Mark DeRosa, Lauren Shehadi, and Flores, and the same crew returns today at noon ET. The studio programming ki
