For PWHL, Raycom, and Dome, Production of the League's First Season Is More Than Just Covering a Sport PWHL Playoffs cap a season marked by bi-country teamwork By Jason Dachman, Editorial Director, U.S. Monday, May 13, 2024 - 7:30 am
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After an exciting inaugural season, the PWHL Playoffs are off and running, with four teams fighting to win the first-ever Walter Cup. It's the culmination of not only a whirlwind effort by the Professional Women's Hockey League and partners Raycom Sports and Dome Productions to get the upstart league off the ground but also a chance to showcase the thrilling on-ice action offered by its players.
I'm really excited for our players and our fans to lean into the quality and intensity of our games over the semifinals and finals, says Jeremy Langer, a special adviser to the league. PWHL games are fast, physical, compelling, and of the highest quality. When audiences tune in to watch the drama of our PWHL Playoffs, they will be treated to a first-class announcing, storytelling, and presentation experience.
Dome Productions oversees Canada-based productions, transmission from venues, and distribution to PWHL broadcast partners.
The top four teams in the PWHL regular-season standings - Toronto, Montreal, Boston, and Minneapolis - qualified for the playoffs, which commenced on May 8. Games are available regionally on MSG Network, NESN, and Bally Sports North in the U.S. and on TSN and RDS in Canada.
As was the case during the regular season, Dome is overseeing all Canada-based game productions and handling all transmission from the venues and distribution to PWHL's broadcast partners, and Raycom Sports is handling U.S. game productions, cloud-based archiving, and file-transfer workflows for the league's content-creation operation.
The league can't come up with enough positive adjectives to describe how proud we are of all the people at Raycom and Dome and all the freelancers who made up the team responsible for the execution of our game productions, says Langer.
24-Hour Window: Unique Playoff Format Complicates Operational Logistics All games are being produced onsite for the English-language feed in Canada and the U.S. Meanwhile, RDS is providing French-language coverage for all games involving Montreal as well as for the finals regardless of Montreal's participation. Dome is providing the trucks for the games in Canada, and Raycom's trucks are handling all Stateside games.
Under the PWHL's innovative playoffs rules, The first-place team will have a 24-hour window to select its semifinal opponent - choosing between the third- and fourth-place teams - after the final playoff spot is solidified. This leaves the league and its broadcast partners in English and French a very short period to travel to the site of the finals, which involves multiple scenarios on flights, hotels, and personnel.
Raycom Sports handles U.S. game productions, cloud-based archiving, and file-transfer workflows.
The amazing race to the final playoff spots, combined with the pick-your-own-opponent wrinkle, delayed our final planning within what was already a tight turnaround, says Mike Brock, executive producer, Dome Productions. We would not change the drama or excitement for anything, but the logistics of not knowing where trucks and crews were going to be needed until less than 48 hours before puck drop was definitely a challenge - especially when there are so many other events happening at this time of the year.
Adds Bill Stafford, VP, engineering and technology operations, Raycom Sports, We have been lucky to have great partners, so getting the gear on hold has been okay. But the crew is a challenge, as Boston and Minneapolis have baseball and NHL or NBA playoffs simultaneously.
Upping the Tech Game: More Cameras and On-Air Talent Each semifinal-game production is equipped with four hard cameras, two handhelds, two or three Fletcher robos, and one super-slo-mo camera and three EVS replay systems. A Movicom Ref Cam will be added for the finals, along with other enhancements that the league, Dome, and Raycom are currently working out.
Announcers Tessa Bonhomme (left) and Saroya Tinker at the desk
I feel the PWHL got it right on production, says Stafford. Langer and [PWHL SVP, Business Operations] Amy Scheer did not break the bank on gimmicks but doubled down on core fundamental production, a good complement of cameras, audio, graphics, and replay to show the action properly. We add enhancements here and there. The production teams have used the tools and did a great job telling the story.
The league has assigned a dedicated play-by-play announcer, analyst, and reporter to cover each series. For the finals, in collaboration with TSN, the PHWL will have a three-person panel of Tessa Bonhomme, Becky Keller, and Alexis Pearson onsite at every game to host pre/postgame and intermission content.
The competition has been spectacular since the start, says Rob Reichley, executive producer, Raycom Sports. The broadcast teams have been able to tell the story of what was happening on and off the ice. You can see the hard work, dedication, and total investment of our announcers and the production crew. I've been in broadcast TV for 40+ years, and it has been exciting and fulfilling to be part of a team producing the PWHL, which has seen so much success in its inaugural season.
In the Beginning: Short Schedule for New Year's Day Debut Despite an excruciatingly brief timeline, the league's broadcast-operations effort was ready to go in time for the league's opening games on Jan 1, 2024. This meant architecting a broadcast ecosystem comprising live production and transmission from six cities across North America, distribution to broadcast partners in both the U.S.
