
New York Mets Enhance Game-Day Experience at Citi Field With Significant Tech Upgrades New LED displays, high-speed cameras, replay systems top of the list of improvements By Kristian Hern ndez, Senior Editor
Wednesday, July 27, 2022 - 7:00 am
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
After an impressive first half of the 2022 MLB regular season, the New York Mets are primed for a second half that should end with a trip to the postseason. At Citi Field in Flushing, NY, this season, fans have experienced an improved in-venue environment courtesy of numerous technological enhancements made during the offseason, including new LED displays, high-speed 4K cameras, a new communications workflows based on Riedel's Intercom system, a super-slow-motion replay system, and a revamped control room.
The big focus for us was how we can refresh the fan experience at Citi Field, says Oscar Fernandez, VP, technology solutions, New York Mets. We found that using technology is a perfect way to bring these fans closer to the game, [help them] enjoy their time at the park, and bring an emphasis to our team and brand.
Working Against the Clock: Franchise Pushes To Finish Before Opening Day The Mets faithful are currently taking in a reimagined experience, but, last December, the project was far from the finish line when the organization began taking its initial steps toward its goal. The deadline was set for Thursday, March 31 - more than two weeks before the home opener vs. the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday, April 15. During a normal year, this game would be penciled in on the schedule months in advance, but, with the pandemic continuing during the winter, it was uncertain when fans would be back inside Citi Field.
[The lockdown] was certainly challenging, but we decided to take advantage of that, Fernandez explains. It gave us more commissioning and training time, and, from a content perspective, we added things that we hadn't planned on being able to have for Opening Day.
The New York Mets have made significant upgrades to Citi Field LED video displays this year. All photos: Kimia Zehtab/SNY
The extra time also allowed Fernandez to tap into his industry experience as well as to visit other facilities around the country. As VP, analytics and insights, at Legends Hospitality for three years, he was in Los Angeles when SoFi Stadium was built. Combining his knowledge with tours of the Texas Rangers' Globe Life Field and the Dallas Cowboys' AT&T Stadium in Arlington, TX, gave his team a good idea of what the project could look like.
We also reached out to the league, Fernandez says, especially about the vinyl-plate LEDs since that was new for them and for us. [MLB] was still writing their policies and procedures about brightness, color palette, and what's allowed or not allowed between and during innings, so we wanted to make sure we could get it done in the right way.
From Control Room to Lower Bowl: Inside the Tech Enhancements Transforming multiple aspects of a 13-year-old stadium is a huge task. Through a partnership with Samsung, the club recruited a handful of companies - BeckTV, WJHW, Ross Video - for their specific expertise. With a third-party team assembled, one of the biggest items on the to-do list was retooling the production-control room located in the upper level of the stadium. With the previous equipment removed, the control-room overhaul featured 4K- and IP-capable workflows that would catapult productions to the next level. Besides an entirely new data center as its infrastructure, other enhancements included 4K cameras around the lower bowl, a brand-new communications system driven by Riedel's Intercom solution, and a super-slow-motion replay system for varied looks on the main videoboard in centerfield.
From a replay standpoint, adds Fernandez, we added about twice the capability that we previously had. We're also future-proofed for 4K content moving forward.
The club has added LED displays on the top of the dugout.
With a technological backbone in place, new LED video displays could be installed. Fans are greeted by one of the new displays at the top of the escalator in the Jackie Robinson Rotunda. Previously composed of static Topps baseball cards, the Mets starting lineup is now shown in a 3D video display and can be easily altered in case of a last-minute substitution. Replacing outdated technology on the venue's ribbon boards was a main priority, including the existing displays on the fascia of the lower bowl. Ribbon boards were added to other areas of the ballpark: four in right field, on the upper section of the dugout, and behind home plate. Unlike the ribbon board at Globe Life Field, which is elevated and behind the protective netting, the displays at Citi Field are directly on the backstop wall, replacing static rotational boards. Throughout the concourse, 25 75-in. displays were installed to promote dynamic messaging. Lastly, a new IPTV system directs game feeds to 4K television screens and digital menu signage throughout the stadium.
In another heavy lift during the offseason, the crew focused on getting these physical structures installed and working in time for Opening Day. For future seasons, the plan is to eventually have the LED video displays handling HDR content.
Fielding Feedback: Fans, Execs Praise the Project's Completion The project was a massive achievement for a franchise with an illustrious history. It's an accomplishment worth applauding, and patrons at Citi Field have appreciated hard work, dedication, and commitment of Fernandez and his team.
During the first week of the regular season, Fernandez had the chance to sit in the lower bowl and experience the completed upgrades from a fan's perspective. He discovered that fans around him were in awe of the crew's achievement: A
More from Sports Video Group
02/07/2025
Progressive realism: Aurora on taking up the broadcast reins for World RX alongs...
02/07/2025
Great speed: New host broadcaster Aurora on getting the World RX 2025 season pro...
02/07/2025
Seat of its pants: Aurora boxes clever and looks ahead for the FIA as new host b...
02/07/2025
UEFA Women's Euro 2025: EBU, BBC Sport and Sunset Vine talk coverage plans, ...
02/07/2025
UEFA Women's Euro 2025: Women's Super League launches new content series...
02/07/2025
UEFA Women's Euro 2025: Ignite puts fans and players front and centre with t...
02/07/2025
Storytelling in the Live Game Broadcast: ESPN Director Jimmy Platt Breaks Down t...
02/07/2025
CONCACAF's Miguel Angel Garcia on the Gold Cup's Enhanced 2025 Productio...
01/07/2025
SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Spyrosoft's Jonathan Witty on Futher Business Exp...
01/07/2025
The NIL Effect: How the Shifting Business of College Athletics Impacts On-Campus...
01/07/2025
Cherry on the cake: Inside the technical production of the Tour de France 2025 w...
01/07/2025
NESN's Josh Jun on Keeping Alternative Broadcasts Fresh for Boston Red Sox, ...
01/07/2025
TNT Sports Races Back Into NASCAR With Fresh Look, Familiar Edge Production approach emphasizes creative freedom, bold storytelling, casual-fan-friendly tone B...
27/06/2025
How smarter compression is creating a sustainable future By Michael Burns
Monday, June 23, 2025 - 14:13
Print This Story
Live sport is especially vulnerab...
27/06/2025
Behind the Mic: FOX Sports Ratchets Up UEFA Women's EURO 2025 With Top-Class...
27/06/2025
RTL Group To Acquire Sky Deutschland By George Bevir, Editorial Director, SVG Europe
Friday, June 27, 2025 - 8:00 am
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story ...
27/06/2025
Frictionless, At Scale: The Current State of Live Video Streaming Techology Leaders from Bitmovin, Comcast Technology Solutions, Harmonic, IMAX, and Phenix brea...
27/06/2025
Marquee Sports Network's Nick Steger on Meeting the Moment of the Contending...
27/06/2025
NHL Draft 2025: The League Is Primed for First Decentralized Draft in Non-Pandem...
26/06/2025
10th-Annual SVG Regional Sports Production Summit Presents Useful Roadmap for th...
26/06/2025
The Big Cloud Debate: Public vs. Private vs. Hybrid Tech leaders from CineSys, Diversified, and Net Insight breaks down all flavors of cloud By Jason Dachman, ...
26/06/2025
Program Productions' Jess Kowatch on Training the Next and Current Gener...
25/06/2025
SVG College Summit 2025: Select Sessions Now Available to Watch on SVG PLAY Tackling the latest in college sports video: NIL, live production, virtual productio...
25/06/2025
ESPN Is Set To Bring AR Graphics to Wimbledon, Revamps Bunker and Studio 18 VO B...
24/06/2025
2025 NBA Draft: ABC/ESPN Prepares for Two-Day Draft at Barclays Center Partners Game Creek Video, CP Communications, NEP Specialty Capture will be on hand By M...
24/06/2025
Cloud Broadcast Tech Update: Google Cloud's Jane Day on the Impact of AI on ...
24/06/2025
Cloud Broadcast Tech Update: AWS's Dana LaGattuta on Data-Driven Innovation ...
24/06/2025
Lions live: Dublin opener sees Sky Sports take remote route By Fergal Ringrose ...
24/06/2025
Pumas maul Lions as S4C and TG4 deliver first-ever joint host in Dublin By Ferg...
24/06/2025
ABC/ESPN Prepares for 2025 NBA Draft, the First at Barclays Center Partners Game Creek Video, CP Communications, NEP Specialty Capture will be on hand By Mark ...
23/06/2025
Adventures in Live Cloud Production: Stories From the Trenches with MLB, NHL, NB...
23/06/2025
Finding the edge: How Badger & Combes produces live-streamed coverage of county ...
23/06/2025
Masters of Madness: New football format shakes up the rules of sportainment By Adrian Pennington
Monday, June 16, 2025 - 11:38
Print This Story
The ball i...
23/06/2025
New State-of-the-Art Mountain Media Center Launches in Former Starz Encore Build...
23/06/2025
ESPN Says Goodbye to Seaport Studios, Hello to New State-of-the-Art Production F...
20/06/2025
Feeling Unlimited, Part 1: Athletes Unlimited Softball League Deploys Remote Pro...
20/06/2025
A True Test? Cricket's Growth on the Global Stage and the Role Broadcast Can...
20/06/2025
Sky Sports goes large for the British & Irish Lions Tour with AR graphics, UHD a...
20/06/2025
ESPN's Men's College World Series Finals Coverage Combines Innovation, L...
19/06/2025
SVG Rewind: PGA Tour Introduces Drone AR Smart Tracing, Reflects on Winning Geor...
18/06/2025
Technology focus: Fan expectations drive advances in the in-stadium experience By Jo Ruddock
Tuesday, June 3, 2025 - 08:36
Print This Story
For years, att...
18/06/2025
Making connections: How stadiums are meeting the ever-growing demand for data an...
18/06/2025
SVG Venues & Teams Summit Keynote: RWS Global Powers the Stadium Environment at ...
18/06/2025
SVG Rewind: Behind the Scenes of Producing Tottenham Hotspur's Europa League...
17/06/2025
SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Mercury Intermedia's Tom Richardson, Mike Ligon o...
17/06/2025
Total Sports Performance from Relo Metrics, VideoAmp, Offers Next-Level Media, B...
17/06/2025
From Stage to Stream: Producing Live Esports Events in 2025 Leaders from ESL FACEIT Group, Riot Games, and more break down the latest trends By Jason Dachman, ...
17/06/2025
Inside FIFA 2025 Club World Cup Operations With FIFA's Oscar Sanchez, HBS...
17/06/2025
Production ambitions: Over Exposed on making the National League Promotion Final...