
Live From Super Bowl LVIII: For CBS Sports, a True Team Effort Involves an Army of Vendors, Crew, and Talent Years of planning and the efforts of thousands have gone into the massive operation By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director
Friday, February 9, 2024 - 12:05 pm
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
The final pieces for Super Bowl LVIII are falling into place. Yesterday, the field tray rolled into Allegiant Stadium, and more and more of the production and support teams, especially those from vendors whose equipment and services are being used by CBS Sports, begin to arrive for the final push and game day.
The vendors are part of the collective effort that contributes to the Super Bowl production all week long, says Patty Power, EVP, operations and engineering, CBS Sports. We value their innovation, expertise, and teamwork to put on the biggest show of the year.
At the top of that vendor list are the three mobile-unit providers: NEP, Game Creek Video, and F&F Productions. Jason Cohen, VP, remote technical operations, CBS Sports, notes the contribution that they (and the other vendors) have made all season long.
It's important that our partners from Week 1 of the NFL are here, he says, not just to cover the Super Bowl with us but to celebrate the Super Bowl. For example, NEP is covering the game production for us as they did from Week 1, with our A-crew games produced out of Supershooter CBS. NEP is providing their TFC [Total Facility Control] Connect as well, which is the nucleus of everything [and routes all the audio and video signals].
While NEP has primary game duties, Game Creek Video is here with three trucks: Prime is handling pregame-show coverage, Varsity is doing the tape release, and Columbia is producing the Nickelodeon game. Game Creek also is providing edit support.
The front bench in Game Creek Video Prime will be very busy with Super Bowl LVIII pre/postgame and halftime activities.
F&F, meanwhile, has been at the Bellagio, with its GTX20 unit serving as the backbone of the studio shows.
They have an incredibly important task at the Bellagio, says Cohen, being the truck providing production for the CBS Sports Network shows that started on Monday of this week and carried on through the entire week. F&F also provided equipment to help get signals for shows like The Drew Barrymore Show and others out to their control rooms at home, where those shows are produced remotely.
When The NFL Today pregame show kicks off at 2 p.m. ET at the Bellagio, he continues, that show will be produced out of the Game Creek Prime truck, and, on Saturday, That Other Pregame Show is also produced out of Prime and connected to the Bellagio via fiber. But all the daily and nighttime shows from the Bellagio for CBS Sports Network are done out of F&F.
Those trucks collectively will have 37 EVS replay machines, providing more than 600 channels of recorded playback.
As for power generation, again, suppliers that worked with CBS this season are involved. Aggreko and Sunbelt helped us all season long with our regular-season and postseason power, notes Cohen. [Here] Sunbelt/Filmworks is doing all the compound power for us, and Aggreko is doing the Bellagio power for us from a comms and RF standpoint.
Specialty Cameras and Wireless On the wireless front, CP Communications is handling all the wireless PLs and microphones, and AVS oversees RF video. Then there are the specialty devices, such as 20 Fletcher robos in various locations around the field (4K down the line, the goal-line cameras, etc.) and in hallways and other stadium locations. In addition, four are scattered around the city: at The STRAT, Planet Hollywood, the Renaissance Hotel, and the Mandalay Bay.
Those are all using LiveU for transmission but are controlled robotically by Fletcher, Cohen explains. We also have LiveU for covering the team buses and team hotels and those sorts of things.
Skycam is providing three Skycams in the stadium and Skycam robos mounted above each goal line capturing images in 1080p for 4X-slo-mo playback.
We also will use two Flycam systems, says Cohen. One is in the stadium on the reverse side of the field to catch players running down the sideline on the far side of the field. At the Bellagio, we have a 1,000-ft. Flycam across the water.
Drones also will be in the mix. In Super Bowl first, one will fly within a 10-mile radius of the stadium on game day during pregame coverage.
Beverly Hills Aerials is providing a heavy-lift drone flying with a Sony P50 camera, says Cohen. It will be at the Bellagio, where it has been getting shots all week. Beverly Hills Aerials also provided a tethered drone that flies at 400 ft. from an adjacent space next to the stadium to the Magic parking lot, which is about a block and a half from the stadium. It gives us a great shot of the stadium with the city in the back. We had a tethered drone in Atlanta five years ago for Super Bowl LIII.
Two FPV drones are also in use. One is flying around the Bellagio set, doing small moves throughout the sets and signs; the other is at the Paramount Mountain activation zone at The Mirage.
A doink cam prior to being installed into one of the uprights for Super Bowl LVIII
The end zones are obviously the most important part of the field, and, for coverage there, several vendors are supplying specialty gear. BSI, Fletcher, and Antelope are involved with the front-goal-line pylons (Fletcher and Antelope were also integral to creation of the doink cam), and C360 is doing the back pylons as well as the C360 8K cameras mounted on the back of the goal posts and shooting toward the back line.
[The C360 8K cameras are] part of their overall 200-degree immersive replay system, notes Cohen.
Another new camera position is the Red Cat cam, a RED Digital Cinema camera located on the catwa
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
02/05/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
01/05/2026
January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...
14/04/2026
WESCAM MX -Series EO/IR Systems Provide Critical Visibility During NASA Re-Entry Operations....
14/04/2026
DiSCO reduces uncertainty during the fog of war in modern threat environments an...
14/04/2026
GOES-19 imagery captured by L3Harris-built Advanced Baseline Imager technology helps forecasters issue life-saving weather warnings. Credit: NOAA/NASA...
14/04/2026
For decades, understanding the physical world from space has required a trade-of...
14/04/2026
Ruiz has helped fuel growth for both client-side and media companies, including, most recently, TelevisaUnivision.
He will spearhead transformation, innovatio...
14/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
14/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
14/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
14/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
14/04/2026
Shotoku Introduces the World to Aura P2 PTZ Prompter Panner at NAB 2026
New system removes PTZ pan restrictions for teleprompter-based productions
Shotoku US...
14/04/2026
Integration of Vantage, Pulse, and Telestream UP with Grass Valley AMPP Ecosystem enables scalable, interoperable workflows spanning live production and file-ba...
14/04/2026
Enterprise growth leader to scale Dalet's next phase of innovation and global expansion
New York, NY April 14, 2026 Dalet, a leading technology and ser...
14/04/2026
Berklee Celebrates Prince's Legacy in Two-Night Signature Series Event Directed by Tia Fuller, the Prince Project (April 16-17) brings together more than ...
14/04/2026
Arooj Aftab Is Anything but Predictable The singular artist explores the juxtaposition of grief and joy, dark and light, in her distinctive sound.
April 14, ...
14/04/2026
Appear launches include XM estate management and new X Platform processing enhancements to add density for next-generation hybrid & IP workflows, X5 is also now...
14/04/2026
Addressing the needs of a new generation's viewing habits, Synamedia launches GO Shorts. The AI-powered module turns existing catalogues into TikTok-style ...
14/04/2026
Vubiquity, an Amdocs company and global leader in technology-led media services, will be showcasing a new end-to-end streaming solution in collaboration with El...
14/04/2026
LiveU today announced a significant expansion of its collaboration with Sony Corporation, introducing integrated support for Sony's file-based workflow solu...
14/04/2026
Open Broadcast Systems (https://www.obe.tv/) has announced that BBC World Service has selected its decoders for IP Television distribution. The high-quality, lo...
14/04/2026
Blackmagic Design Announces DaVinci Resolve 21
Brie Clayton April 14, 2026
0 Comments
Major update adds new Photo page bringing Hollywood's most a...
14/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
14/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
14/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
14/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
14/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
14/04/2026
Wowza will return to NAB Show 2026 with a set of live demonstrations focused on how video infrastructure is evolving for a new generation of AI-powered and oper...
14/04/2026
Stegawave Debuts Real-Time Forensic Watermarking to Tackle Piracy in Live Sports...
14/04/2026
Living in Boston: A Guide for Incoming Boston Conservatory Students From navigating the T to balancing school with professional gigs, a current student shar...
14/04/2026
Just What Is Genre These Days, Anyway? Understanding the business and art of genre-bending in 2026.
April 13, 2026
By
Bryan Parys
Illustration by Jack Fla...
14/04/2026
Lenora Helm Hammonds Is Turning Passion Into Plan A The dean of the Professional Education Division has seen the industry from all sides. Now shes bringing it...
14/04/2026
How Michelle Zalabak Found Her Dream Career in Music and Finance The Warner Music Group deal analysis manager helps determine what artist catalogs are worth a...
14/04/2026
Wuppertal April 14, 2026
Thomas Riedel Acquires Premium Manufacturer ARRIStrategic Alignment With the Riedel Group for Innovation and Growth
Thomas Riedel, f...
14/04/2026
New Service Simplifies Integration of AI Applications with Exceptional Reliabili...
14/04/2026
New Company, Tamu Radiance, Combines FOR-A's Video Expertise and Tamura'...
14/04/2026
Luxembourg, April 14, 2026 - SES, a leading space solutions company, today annou...
13/04/2026
ToolsOnAir Composition Builder 2026 Boilerplate
More Details: The Composition Builder 2026 application for macOS enables TV stations and Live Event broadcast...
13/04/2026
ToolsOnAr just:live pro 2026 Boilerplate
More Details: just:live pro 2026 is a Multi-Channel Live Production Playout solution for video and static or real-ti...
13/04/2026
ToolsOnAr just:play pro 2026 Boilerplate
More Details: just:play pro 2026 is a Multi-Channel automated 24/7 Master Control playout solution with SD, HD and U...
13/04/2026
ToolsOnAr live:cut 2026 Boilerplate
More Details: live:cut is an option to just:in mac pro 2025 and enables multicamera production workflows for up to 16 cam...
13/04/2026
ToolsOnAir Just In Mac Lite NDI 2026 Boilerplate
More Details: The Just In Mac Lite NDI application is a streamlined media capture solution designed specific...
13/04/2026
ToolsOnAir Just In Mac Lite 2026 Boilerplate
More Details: The Just In Mac Lite application is a streamlined media capture solution designed specifically for...
13/04/2026
ToolsOnAir just:in mac pro 2026 Boilerplate
More Details: just:in mac pro is a macOS-based client-server multichannel capture solution to record SDI, HDMI, N...
13/04/2026
Telos Alliance has announced that J nger Audio has joined the EBU ADM Implementers Group (ADM-IG) as a founding member. The group is focused on advancing ADM an...
13/04/2026
Grass Valley will demonstrate its Alliance Partner ecosystem at NAB Show 2026 (Booth C2408, Central Hall, April 19-22), showing AMPP integrations across live pr...