
Live From NFL Draft 2025: ESPN's Massive' Production Features 1,700-foot Cabled Aerial Camera, Multiple Studio Sets Outside Historic Lambeau Field The league estimates that about 250,000 fans could flood into Green Bay over three days By Brandon Costa, Director of Digital
Thursday, April 24, 2025 - 3:56 pm
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
The word you'll hear a lot in the ESPN production compound in Green Bay in the lead up to tonight's 2025 NFL Draft is hope.
It's what makes this event the NFL's traveling spring festival such a compelling product: every team has it. And with every team currently holding a first-round selection (the first time that's happened since the league expanded to 32 teams), there's an excitement that truly every fan base will have a reason to tune in on Night 1 tonight.
ESPN's main NFL Draft set is located off the right hand side of the stage inside the main theater.
Throw in the fact that this Draft is taking place on the football-equivelant of hallowed ground adds another compelling layer to this year's production as ESPN and The Walt Disney Company will deliver wall-to-wall coverage across its family of platforms, transforming the historic Lambeau Field into the epicenter of football's future.
As has become the tradition, the Draft's first round, airing Thursday night, will deliver distinctly different experiences for audiences watching on either ESPN or ABC. ESPN's coverage is centered on team needs and player performance-bringing hardcore fans inside the war rooms and onto the field. Meanwhile, ABC's approach, now in its seventh consecutive year, leans into human interest, highlighting player journeys, backgrounds, and the emotional gravity of their NFL leap.
Live coverage airing on ABC on Thursday and Friday night will be hosted from a set behind the Draft crowd in the Lambeau Field parking lot.
In total, ESPN's 14 hours of Draft coverage spans three days and seven rounds, bolstered by 257 picks and comprehensive digital support. But the broadcast isn't just about what's on air-it's about how it's captured.
Three virtual jibs will float above the crowd, adding dynamic movement to crowd reactions and pick announcements. Drone shots, positioned at the opposite end of the stadium from the crowd, offer sweeping aerial visuals. Hard cameras atop Lambeau's roof will deliver top-down angles rarely seen in traditional football coverage. And thanks to the NFL's partnership with LiveU, coverage includes 23 virtual prospect feeds and 32 team cameras to follow each pick as it happens.
One of the most versatile tools in this production? Supracam-a 1,700-foot line camera that runs through and around Lambeau. We have to really pay attention to creating establishing shots, otherwise it could look like we're just in a parking lot in any American city, says Tommy Mitchell, Senior Operations Manager at ESPN. Supracam allows us to see inside the stadium and then fly back out. It's like the marquee shot at the Rose Bowl. In the past, that camera has been primary for a crowd shot, now it's really going to help us a lot as an establishing shot, too.
ESPN has rigged up a Supracam over the crowd. The cable run stretches approximately 1,700 feet from the stage to one of the videoboards inside Lambeau Field.
The 2025 NFL Draft marks a milestone in the League's offseason showcase, as it lands in its smallest-ever host market. With a population of just over 107,000, Green Bay is preparing to welcome more than double its usual size, with 250,000 fans expected over three days. It's a logistical and technical challenge unlike any other, and ESPN's operations team is tackling it with the precision and scale usually reserved for championship broadcasts.
Everything about this is temporary, says Mitchell, who is working his second NFL Draft. This production essentially originates from a blank slate.
ESPN has three jibs with Sony cameras on site at the 2025 NFL Draft, all with virtual graphics capabilities.
Unlike college football stadiums or arenas outfitted with ready infrastructure, Lambeau Field's surrounding area had to be reimagined and rebuilt to accommodate a broadcast of this scale. That means bringing in everything-power, fiber, staging, camera positions, and more-from scratch.
Crews began arriving well in advance to construct the NFL Draft theater and accompanying sets, strategically placed in the shadows of Lambeau. ESPN's main set is housed inside the theater area, just behind the crowd and to the right of the main stage. ABC's set, along with The Pat McAfee Show's draft platform, is nestled near Lambeau's iconic Atrium, accompanied by additional reporter positions for Adam Schefter and Pete Thamel.
While Green Bay may lack the size of previous hosts like Detroit-whose 2024 Draft drew a record-setting 775,000 attendees-it offers something different: intimacy, character, and football legacy. But making it TV-ready? That's the kind of challenge ESPN's team thrives on.
Executing this scale of broadcast requires a herculean team effort-one that Mitchell is quick to praise. It's a clich to say it's a team effort and we have the best crew, he says. While a clich , its true especially at an event like this when you consider how much pre-planning goes into it and things change when you get here. You have to have the people who are adept at saying ok, that's disappointing but let's figure out the best outcome of this.'
ESPN's primary NFL Draft coverage will be anchored out of NEP's EN1, which has been the home of Monday Night Football for more than a decade.
On the ESPN side, producer Bryan Ryder and director Steve Zawilinski are steering the ship, supported by a veteran
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 ...
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...
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...
12/09/2025
Feature-length retrospective from Studio Crook to air in 2026
Sir David Jason returns to the nation's favourite comedy channel, U&GOLD, for Open All Hours:...
12/09/2025
September 12th, 2025
Tribeca X and The Female Quotient to Host Powerhouse Em...
12/09/2025
Friday 12 September 2025
The Boomtown Rats, Nyah Grace, Soweto Kinch, Royal Ballet and Madness also announced to perform at the ceremony on Tuesday
Sky today ...
12/09/2025
Wuppertal September 12, 2025
Riedel Unveils Ultra-Light Bolero Mini Wireless Intercom BeltpackAt IBC2025 in Amsterdam, Riedel Communications unveiled Bolero M...
12/09/2025
Wuppertal September 12, 2025
Riedel Communications Acquires hi human interfaceRiedel Communications today announced the acquisition of hi human interface fro...
12/09/2025
Back to All News
New International Crime Series Road (WT)' Explores Twiste...
12/09/2025
Back to All News
First Look: Thai Crime Drama Everybody Loves Me When I'm ...
12/09/2025
Back to All News
Netflix Marks 10 Years in Japan, Announces Three New Series Th...
12/09/2025
CORE+ virtually removes distortion, setting a new standard for church sound and giving worship teams the clarity and confidence they need.
Read the full artic...
12/09/2025
The Late Late Show is back with a bang after the summer break, and Patrick Kielt...
12/09/2025
The World Athletics Championships, Ireland v France in the Women's Rugby World Cup quarter-final, the Irish Champions Festival, and two Sports Direct Men...
12/09/2025
The Records Show starts Sunday at 6.30pm on RT One and RT Player.
Katie Hanno...
11/09/2025
Report: Busy Live Sports Streaming Execs Have Low-hanging Fruit' in Front o...