ESPN Takes Data-Driven Storytelling to New Heights with MNF Playbook with Next Gen Stats' NFL Altcasts

ESPN Takes Data-Driven Storytelling to New Heights with MNF Playbook with Next Gen Stats' NFL Altcasts Adrenaline's TruPlay AI technology gives fans a deeper, data-driven look at every moment of the game By Jason Dachman, Editorial Director, U.S.

Monday, December 22, 2025 - 3:45 pm

Print This Story | Subscribe

Story Highlights

Data visualization tools are now ubiquitous across every live NFL broadcast, as production teams look to bring data-centric storytelling to fans on a wider scale. Since the launch of NFL Next Gen Stats a decade ago, broadcasters have continued to find new and innovative ways to deliver deeper insights into the action on the field for avid fans. Tonight, ESPN takes those efforts to the next level with the debut of its MNF Playbook with Next Gen Stats altcast.

From a data visualization standpoint, I think it's the richest opportunity we've had at ESPN, says Phil Orlins, VP, Production Technology & Innovation for ESPN. We have done of a lot this [data visualization] over the years and I think this is right at the top of the list in terms of what's possible using data to tell the story. And obviously, in terms of the property, it doesn't get any bigger than the NFL. So this is a really special opportunity for us.

MNF Playbook with Next Gen Stats will feature real-time data and probabilities, advanced metrics and AI-driven pre-snap insights, and analytics-focused commentary from the booth - all powered by the NFL's Next Gen Stats and Adrenaline's TruPlay AI - for five of ESPN's final six games of the 2025-26 season beginning tonight with MNF's 49ers-Colts matchup.

Tonight's broadcast will be built around a 22-man, all-field camera view - rather than the traditional game camera - and tap into TruPlay AI's live predictive engine - capable of adjusting to personnel, formations, and pre-snap movement in real time. With a database of more than 370,000 NFL plays layered with NFL Next Gen Stats, TruPlay AI equips the presentation with dynamic run-pass probabilities, expected target distributions, blitz likelihoods and more.

You're going to actually see the data change dynamically and updates in real time on the screen up until the snap, says Orlins. All the [pre-snap] movement, audibles, substitution changes, misdirection happening on the field create an incredible opportunity to truly illuminate some things that are not typically seen [in a broadcast].

Running on Adrenaline: How MNF Playbook' Came to Be The broadcast will mark ESPN's latest data-driven altcast outing, following in the footsteps of numerous MLB Statcast efforts (most notably at the Home Run Derby) and NBA InsightCasts during last season's playoff run - not to mention the network's various NBA, NFL and NHL animated altcasts.

And Orlins is always on the lookout for the next big thing that could be a data-visualization difference-maker . So in August, when Orlins and Tim Reed, VP of NFL Programming and Acquisitions, were introduced to Adrenaline, a data-focused sports startup founded by 11-year NFL veteran and former Dallas Cowboys linebacker Sean Lee, he immediately saw a potential winner.

Sean showed us what they could do in terms of run-pass probabilities, expected receiver targets, and blitz likelihoods, and it was very impressive, he recounts. It wasn't live, but we saw the foundation of what was possible and told us that, if they could get the [NGS] data in real time, they could create these [visuals] in real time as well.

ESPN worked with Josh Helmrich, the NFL's Senior Director of Media Strategy, Business Development, and Next Gen Stats, and his team to provide Adrenaline with the firehouse of NGS data, and they were off to the races. By the time the NFL season kicked off in September, ESPN and Adrenaline were live testing the technology during games.

We watched their app running live that night with dots representing all the players over a graphic of the field and the real-time data pulsing through for each probability, says Orlins. That's when we got serious about making this happen - both within ESPN and with the league.

Lead graphic designer Scott Dickens and the ESPN Creative Studio team then built out a visual demo to show what was possible using Adrenaline within a live broadcast, and I think it really changed the conversation and put things on the fast track, says Orlins.

Behind the Scenes: Production Team in Bristol, Dedicated Cameras On-Site The production team - led by ESPN altcast veteran producers Andy Jacobson (who will be at the front bench tonight) or Ben Ward and director Joel Molinsky - will produce each of the five shows from a REMI control room at ESPN's Bristol, CT campus. The model will be similar to one of ESPN's enhanced world feed REMI operations with the production team creating its own show using the main MNF line-cut, several MNF camera feeds (including the Skycam, All 22, and high-end zone), three unilateral cameras, three dedicated replay operators, and its own graphics and scorebug operators.

We had a rehearsal last Monday - using just the All 22 [angle] without our own cameras like we will have [tonight] and it went extremely well, says Orlins. I feel pretty good that we're going to hit the ground running. I'm sure there will be improvements along the way, but I can tell you that - despite this all coming together rather quickly - we're approaching this launch very aggressively.

In terms of cameras, the MNF Playbook production will have two primary game-coverage shots - on the near and far 20-yard lines - that will split the field, as well as a reverse 50-yard line position - all with full AR capabilities

From an analytical standpoint, we have all the angles and tools we need for our announcers to do break down the game, say

LINK:	https://www.sportsvideo.org/2025/12/22/espn-takes-data-driven-storytel...
	See more stories from svg

Most recent headlines