
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
04/09/2025
Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE), in collaboration with Dalet, has been a...
17/05/2025
ATLANTA Cox Media Group (CMG) has announced that Joe Cowan will rejoin WSB-TV Atlanta as news director, starting in mid-June....
17/05/2025
PHILADELPHIA Comcast's Xfinity has announced that Sunday Night Soccer on MLS Season Pass is now available for free to customers. The access will start with ...
17/05/2025
Korn 30th Anniversary Concert: Letting The Fans Capture The Show!
Brie Clayton May 16, 2025
0 Comments
Cinematography: S bastien Paquet
Production Co...
17/05/2025
CETA Software debuts reporting tool for studio-wide financial and operational in...
16/05/2025
Across Central and Eastern Europe, journalism is no longer the default source of information. It competes and often loses against a chaotic content stream drive...
16/05/2025
Journalists working in investigative reporting across the Western Balkans and T rkiye are encouraged to enter their published work for the 2025 edition of the E...
16/05/2025
As Beyonc s COWBOY CARTER Tour sparks excitement around the world, Spotify is helping the BeyHive get concert-ready with a limited-edition collection of playli...
16/05/2025
Proper Loved Up Stage One Recipients Announced
16 May, 2025
Media releases
Screen Australia's First Nations Department, the Australian Broadcasting Cor...
16/05/2025
Charter Communications and Cox Communications announced today that the two companies will merge in a deal valued at $34.5 billion. The transaction which consist...
16/05/2025
(Editor's note: CBS Sports coverage of the PGA Championship began May 15 and wraps up May 18. Interviews for this story were conducted on-site May 14.)...
16/05/2025
COW Jobs: Hiring Freelance Video Editor, Part-Time Remote
Brie Clayton May 16, 2025
0 Comments
We're Hiring: Freelance , Part-Time, and Remote Vid...
16/05/2025
Charter Communications and Cox Communications announced today that the two companies will merge in a deal valued at $34.5 billion. The transaction which consist...
16/05/2025
NEW YORK Warner Bros. Discovery U.S. Ad Sales has unveiled NEO and DemoDirect, two advertising solutions it said will provide clients with more effective and ef...
16/05/2025
As Hollywood tries to digest the potential impact of President Donald Trump's proposal to impose tariffs on foreign-produced films, Netflix has broken groun...
16/05/2025
Berklee Announces Jonathan Mahoney as the New Dean for Pre-College, Online, and ...
16/05/2025
UKTV today announces the re-commission of Bookish (6x70') for specialist cri...
16/05/2025
May 16th, 2025 Tribeca Festival 2025 Reveals Creators Market Recipients
Bold New Projects Include Doggie with Anna Baryshnikov and Juliana Canfield; Cop Ci...
16/05/2025
The FA Cup Final: Telling the Story With Graphics Technology Manchester City meets Crystal Palace on Saturday in this years FA Cup Final By SVG Staff
Friday,...
16/05/2025
PBR's Wild 11-Day Stretch Culminates in World Finals at AT&T Stadium The operation will have produced 250 streams and broadcasts across 10 platforms By Mar...
16/05/2025
SVG Cloud Production Forum Draws 200 to NYC to Tackle One of the Industry's ...
16/05/2025
Eurovision Song Contest: Behind the scenes with Eurovision Services By Jo Ruddock
Thursday, May 15, 2025 - 09:41
Print This Story
Credit: SRG SSR
The 69t...
16/05/2025
NEP mobilises European network for Eurovision Song Contest 2025 By George Bevir
Thursday, May 15, 2025 - 10:29
Print This Story
NEP camera operator Tomas ...
16/05/2025
WNBA Tip-Off 2025: ESPN Elevates Coverage Through Expanded Remote-Production Wor...
16/05/2025
WNBA Tip-Off 2025: Scripps Sports' Friday Night Spotlight' Features Mor...
16/05/2025
FloSports Debuts The Athlete's Lounge' Alternate Broadcast for Wanda Di...
16/05/2025
Friday 16 May 2025
To view this content, please enable our use of cookies. To d...
16/05/2025
Back to All News
Award Winning Bridgerton Garden Permanently Opens at Cambridge...
16/05/2025
Live RT Radio 1 shows with Louise Duffy, Countrywide and Mooney Goes Wild
RT ...
16/05/2025
Two HIV vaccine trials show proof of concept for pathway to broadly neutralizing antibodies North American and African clinical trials led by Scripps Research, ...
15/05/2025
PARK CITY, UTAH JANUARY 20: Skye P. Marshall, Omari Hardwick, Cory Hardrict, Qasim Basir, Dana Gourrier, and Amin Joseph attend the 2023 Sundance Film Festiva...
15/05/2025
Director of photography Benjamin Kasulke, actors Katie Henney and Hannah Marks, ...
15/05/2025
Australia's boldest network SBS launches new brand campaign: We Go There...
15/05/2025
We Go There SBS On Demand's new Hub is entirely bold and unmistakably SBS
15 May, 2025
Media releases
The We Go There Hub brings together over 300 ti...
15/05/2025
Airbus U.S. Space & Defense and L3Harris Technologies announced a teaming agreem...
15/05/2025
Mexico City - May 15, 2025 - Nielsen, the global leader in audience measurement, data, and analytics, announced the expansion of its streaming measurement panel...
15/05/2025
NEW YORK Warner Bros. Discovery U.S. Ad Sales today unveiled NEO and DemoDirect, two new solutions that the company said will provide advertisers with more effe...
15/05/2025
NEP Europe is utilizing technology and teams from across Europe for this year's Eurovision Song Contest....
15/05/2025
TAMPA BAY, Fla. & CINCINNATI, Ohio The Tampa Bay Lightning have inked a multi-year media rights agreement with Scripps Sports that gives it rights to produce an...
15/05/2025
NEW YORK Warner Bros. Discovery announced during its upfront presentation that Max, the company's streaming platform, will be rebranded as HBO Max this summ...
15/05/2025
LONDON 7fivefive said it will expand its work for BBC Studios' Global Media & Streaming team and that it is helping the U.K. public broadcaster's studio...
15/05/2025
STAMFORD, Conn. Charter Communications, Inc. has named Jake Perlman executive vice president, chief technology and information officer (CTIO)....
15/05/2025
ACT Entertainment is proud to announce that Vice President of Talent Mike Schmid has been honored with a Gold Stevie Award as Human Resources Executive of the ...
15/05/2025
Arabsat, a leading global satellite operator and the primary provider of satellite services across the Arab world, has partnered with Grass Valley, the technolo...
15/05/2025
Leading media technology and services provider Tyrell, who has supported the broadcast, post-production, production, VFX, and corporate markets in the UK and Ir...
15/05/2025
At Broadcast Asia 2025, LiveU will demonstrate its latest mission-critical IP-video solutions within its expanded EcoSystem, designed to add efficiency and shor...
15/05/2025
Delivering High-Performance Network Switches Designed for Lightware AV Workflows
Lightware, a leading manufacturer of connectivity solutions for the profession...
15/05/2025
Cerberus Tech, a leader in cloud-native IP video contribution and distribution, today announced that the company has been named a finalist in the 2025 StreamTV ...
15/05/2025
BroadcastAsia 2025 Exhibitor Preview
May 27-29
Singapore Expo
Stand 5F3-5
For today's broadcasters, telcos, content owners, and streaming platforms, eff...
15/05/2025
Marshall Electronics will spotlight its Elite Series of PTZ Cameras at InfoComm 2025 (Booth 3843). Marshall's Elite Series of PTZ cameras includes the CV630...